DC Mayor Bowser signs off on child marriage ban
In a win for human rights advocates Friday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act of 2024. This legislation, proposed in October 2024, would ensure protection for minors from early marriages.
The bill will now undergo 30 days of congressional review.
If approved, the District of Columbia would join 13 states and two territories in banning child marriage. Maryland and Virginia have already passed similar laws.
Part of the push to get D.C. to pass the bill comes from a concern that individuals in states where child marriage is illegal will flock to the District for underage weddings.
Sally Greenberg, the CEO of the National Consumers League and Chair of its Child Labor Coalition, spoke to WTOP about the dangers of child marriage. Child marriage remains legal in 37 U.S. states, according to the nonprofit organization Unchained At Last.
“Forced marriage, by definition, means that one of the parties has not consented to it. And they often have no choice,” said Greenberg. “Oftentimes, it is parents who force their children into marriage, and a vast majority are girls.”
The law will prohibit marriages before the age of 18, with no exceptions.
“The reason you need age 18 is because it’s the age of majority. It means that you have a right to divorce. You have a right to get a lawyer if you need one. You have a right to seek domestic violence counseling, none of which is available if you are underage,” Greenberg said. “If you have two teenagers who’ve fallen in love, let them wait until 18 to see if the relationship stands the test of time.”
About 300,000 minors were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018, according to Unchained At Last.
“There’s a perception that child marriage doesn’t occur in the United States,” Greenberg said. “It is not a rare occurrence, and in fact, it’s much more frequent than we like to admit. It’s not a political issue. It is a human rights issue and protecting against something I think both parties want to fight, and that’s human trafficking.”
“Some girls [who are] born here are sent overseas by their families and sent back to the United States, and they may be U.S. citizens. So they can be used as pawns to get citizenship for a man coming from overseas.”
In a news release from the National Consumers League, Director of Child Labor Advocacy and Coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition Reid Maki, said that “this legislation, in a city that has unfortunately seen an increase in child marriages, sets a powerful example for other cities, states, and nations to follow.”
The statement continued, “Ending this practice will protect young girls from the many negative health and social consequences that early marriage brings.”
Greenberg said she believes this will help save young people who aren’t choosing marriage for the right reasons.
“If you’re forcing someone into marriage under 18, you are, by definition, putting their life in danger,” she said.
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