New federal law aims to accelerate action to end child marriage in the U.S.
The Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2024 is introduced to U.S. Congress.
Child marriage is a significant problem in the United States. New ground-breaking federal legislation, The Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2024, aims to close protection gaps in federal law and send a strong message to U.S. states to end child marriage across the country. The bill, sponsored by Senator Durbin and co-sponsored by Senators Schatz and Gillibrand, has been introduced to the United States Congress in an effort to change federal laws around child marriage.
About Child Marriage in the United States
Child marriage is a significant problem in the United States. Between 2000 and 2018, more than 300,000 girls and boys under the age of 18 years old were married in the United States. The majority of these were 16 or 17 years of age. From 2007-2017, more than 8500 marriage-based visa petitions involving at least one person under 18 years old were approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Most of these cases involved U.S. citizen men seeking to bring girls under the age of 18 years old from overseas as their brides.
In the U.S., age of marriage law is set at the state level, and therefore the law differs by state.
- Only 13 states have a minimum age of marriage at 18 years old with no exceptions
- In 37 states, child marriage (defined as when one or both parties are below the age of majority, generally age 18) is legal
- 4 states do not require any minimum age for marriage: California, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Mississippi
- There is currently no age floor beneath which a person cannot be awarded a marriage-based immigration visa, and USCIS staff are instructed to consider the state laws in a couple’s intended state of residence when considering their visa petition.
About The Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2024
The Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2024 closes federal protection gaps and sends a strong message to states across our country that they must end child marriage in short order and provides incentives for them to do so by:
- Establishing a National Commission to Combat Child Marriage to study, evaluate, and report on eliminating child marriage in the United States;
- Providing those states that have already prohibited marriage licenses for anyone under the age of 18 with increased VAWA grant funding;
- Establishing a competitive grant program for advocates in eligible states that create state-based task forces to examine child marriage and make comprehensive policy recommendations to address the issue. These grants will provide critical support to local advocates and survivors who live and work in states that have not yet ended child marriage, supporting homegrown reform movements;
- Prohibiting child marriage from occurring on federally funded land or buildings, or property owned by the federal government (such as military bases);
- and Instructing the Attorney General to promulgate a model state statute that prohibits child marriage.
Girls everywhere are only as safe as the weakest law allows, and this bill acknowledges the many ways current U.S. law fails to protect girls here and abroad from this human rights abuse. For years, the U.S. has focused on ending child marriage in other countries but has overlooked the issue here at home. We are grateful to Senator Durbin for his steadfast support and dedication to introducing the Child Marriage Prevention Act, which tackles the issue by encouraging states to take action and updating immigration law to close loopholes that allow for the exploitation of children under the guise of marriage.
Casey Carter Swegman, Director of Public Policy at the Tahirih Justice Center
The bill also aims to close immigration loopholes that facilitate child marriage by setting firmer age requirements for those petitioning for spousal and fiancé(s) visas. It newly requires U.S. petitioners to be at least 18 years of age and to have been at least 18 years of age at the time of marriage for that marriage to be valid for immigration purposes. It also requires that individuals sponsored for such visas be at least 18 years of age at the time of the petition. The bill includes a limited waiver for compelling humanitarian reasons for beneficiary spouses who have not yet reached 18 at the time of petition, to ensure that already-married girls are supported and are not left in vulnerable situations.
Girls Not Brides USA co-chair the Tahirih Justice Center and many other advocates that work at the intersection of gender-based violence and immigration, including survivor advocates, have been working with Senator Durbin's office for many years to craft powerful legislation that addresses the core issues, recognises the vulnerabilities of already married girls, and - for the first time - takes bold action to prevent and end child marriage domestically as well as through our marriage-based immigration program.
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In the time it has taken to read this article 51 girls under the age of 18 have been married
Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18
That is 23 girls every minute
Nearly 1 every 2 seconds
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Tahirih Justice Center
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The impact of the law on child marriage and girls' rights
A review of the evidence on the impact of age of marriage and sexual consent laws, presented as a brief and longer report. The brief draws on insights from Girls Not Brides member organisations to highlight key considerations for our work, to ensure the best outcomes for girls, in all their diversity.