There are so many loopholes in all the states of America that allow adult men to marry children. The child doesn’t have to give any consent as long as the parent does. This should be seen as child abuse and the parents should face charges. Then when the child is married all the laws of marriage undermines the laws of child rape and allows these men to rape and abuse the children they married. Domestic violence shelters turn away those under the age of 18 because of legal ramifications. The court will not allow a child to divorce the husband because that requires legal consent that a child cannot give. So we allow a child to get married, be raped, and have children but don’t see them as old enough to seek help for sexual or physical abuse or even get a divorce? This is monstrous and we cannot allow this to happen to the children of this world at least not in our supposedly free country. We have a responsibility to protect and nurture our children not sign them away to rapists and pedophiles. We are allowing legal pedophilia and not giving these children any way out. There’s absolutely no system in place to protect or help children in these circumstances and it may surprise you to know in this country a 9 year old girl was repeatedly raped by a man at her church and was silenced when she tried to speak out about it. Not a only that but she gave birth to his child at 10 at a public hospital and not a single soul tried to do something about it or even ask her how it happened. Then at 11 was forced by her mother, who silenced her from the start, to marry her rapist. At 9-11 years old she had no idea what was happening to her, she was too young to even know about sex or marriage, let alone how to get help or escape. She was a helpless child who needed protection and we FAILED her. No one at the courtroom cared that an 11 year old was being married to an adult. And before she even turned 18 she had 6 children from that man. One child for every year of what was left of her childhood. We allowed this to happen! Right here in the United States. No one even batted an eye and it’s horrifying. Once I discovered her story and many others, I knew it would be my mission to change this. To make sure this can’t happen to anymore little girls. I’m young and I’ve experienced sexual abuse as a child but thankfully my mother saved me instead of enslaved me. Not everyone has parents that care or even believe them. We have to be their protectors, as a community it is our duty to protect our children. Child marriage is a violation of human rights and robs children of their childhood as well as promotes sexual and physical violence against children. This is wrong and disgusting and many children turn to suicide as their only means of escape since there are currently no laws or organizations in place to help them. We need to change this. Please if you care about children and you care about their pain and suffering. Help me help them. Help give them the hope they never had. And the life they should have had. We are the people, we have the power to change.