200,000 Child Brides In America. Worse than Afghanistan?

Girls as young as 10 have been forced into marriages under legal loopholes that allow minors to be married in certain situations, such as parental consent or pregnancy. With over 200,000 minors married to older men over the last 15 years alone.

Is this the Taliban in action across the USA? Sadly not. This is a significant cultural movement which is seeing old men marrying underaged girls because 'God'.

In May Chris Christie refused to sign in a law banning the practice because he said it would conflict with 'religious customs'. Was he protecting Islamic customs? Of course not, this is white Christian custom.

At least 207,468 minors married in the US between 2000 and 2015, according to data compiled by Unchained At Last and investigative series Frontline.

The youngest wedded were three 10-year-old girls in Tennessee who married men aged 24, 25 and 31 in 2001.

Children as young as 12 were granted marriage licences in Alaska, Louisiana and South Carolina, while 11 other states allowed 13-year-olds to wed.

More than 1,000 children aged 14 or under were granted marriage licences.

Pretty shocking numbers. This is exactly the sort of thing people regularly and rightly criticise Sharia law for allowing, yet here it is happening on a massive scale across America.

Links and sources would be greatly appreciated.

Hear-say, friend of a friend sources ? .... Your sources might not be accurate..

I read something about this topic not too long ago, a lady's personal account of young pregnancy & young marriage. I'll have to dig it up again, but it was a bit of an eye opener -- we ain't exactly in a place to waggle fingers at others when it's done legally, but socially clandestinely here.

Edit:
www.tampabay.com...

When she was raped for the first time at age 8 by the bishop of her Pentacostal church, Johnson's mother accused her of lying, she said. When her mother's husband and a church deacon also began to rape her, she stayed silent out of fear.

When she became pregnant at age 10 by the deacon, she was taken out of school, forced to marry him and had five more children with him before she was able to obtain a divorce.

After six years of Johnson's lobbying, the state Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to ban marriage in Florida to anyone under the age of 18, though a House committee Thursday amended the legislation to allow some minors who are 16 or older and expecting a baby to marry.

The woman is 58 and this was just NOW banned in FL this year. After years of lobbying to get there. Ask yourself who it really benefited for so long -- it wasn't Muslims.

a reply to: Painterz

That's seriously f#cked up. Any idea which branch of religion is practising this?

What is it with abrahamic religions and having sex with children? Seriously?

Regardless of marriage, I know of several friends daughters squeezing out prodigy at 13-14 and 15... And not hillbilly, but NYC types.

Very common here in NYC “low income communities “ lol!!a reply to: Plotus

a reply to: Wide-Eyes
I would suggest a lack there-of.

a reply to: Painterz



Seems like a contradiction in terms as at an age that is unable to give consent

to having sex, and a law that calls it 'statutory rape' a child can be married

off just to make it acceptable


How can that be

originally posted by: Wide-Eyes
a reply to: Painterz

That's seriously f#cked up. Any idea which branch of religion is practising this?

I read at one point that Idaho has the highest rate of child marriage in the US, but that's an older statistic, early 2000's, I think. Via a google search, Pew says W Virginia and Texas, ironically, have the highest rate of child marriage now. However, this only counts 15-17 as the youngest age group, so it's probably not accurate either, Idaho might still be in the lead.
www.pewresearch.org...

I'm having a rough time finding detailed, verifiable stats for both age & religious rankings. I think we can tentatively suss out likely sect culprits in states & regions from the available info, though.

You'll likely be abused....but i lived just north of where Warren Jeffs was believed to be in San Angelo (i knew the social services lady, actually). I know this happens. Its not out in the open where normal folks will really see it.

I suspect some weirdness goes on at some of the settlements out in the country in West Texas. Its the kind of place where weird customs crop up, and take forever to change.

originally posted by: Plotus
Regardless of marriage, I know of several friends daughters squeezing out prodigy at 13-14 and 15... And not hillbilly, but NYC types.

Shouldn't/aren't the fathers of the babies prosecuted ??

As a parent I would want that, would make them at least more careful if

nothing else!

originally posted by: wheresthebody
What is it with abrahamic religions and having sex with children? Seriously?

When you believe a god is on your side, everything you do is for the greater good.

a reply to: eletheia

The most often use of the "loophole": boy and girl are in love. One or both are between 15 and 18. Local culture is a bit slow, maybe, and still accepts 15 as ok for marriage (it was common in my parents generation). So parents sign off on the marriage, rather than keep fighting against a roaring fire of passion.

I grew up around it. Seen it a ton.

a reply to: Painterz

You do need a link and source, verifying the numbers.

Here is something I found on the topic, but it doesn't quite reflect the 200,000 married in the last 15 years.

Nevertheless, the data show that 3,481 children were married in New Jersey between 1995 and 2012. Most were age 16 or 17 and married with parental consent, but 163 were between ages 13 and 15, meaning a judge approved their marriages.

Unchained at Last also requested health department data on the ages of people recently married in New York State, where 16- and 17-year-olds may wed with “parental consent” and 14- and 15-year-olds may wed with judicial approval. The data show that 3,853 children were married between 2000 and 2010.

Link

I'm a bit skeptical of the numbers given in the OP, but I suppose it's not impossible, and it is a growing trend.

I was 16 when I married my first husband. He was 19 though, and religion didn't have so much to do with it as I was pregnant. I suppose social morality based upon religion did pressure me to a point but still, not quite the same scenario.

originally posted by: Painterz
Girls as young as 10 have been forced into marriages under legal loopholes that allow minors to be married in certain situations, such as parental consent or pregnancy. With over 200,000 minors married to older men over the last 15 years alone.

Is this the Taliban in action across the USA? Sadly not. This is a significant cultural movement which is seeing old men marrying underaged girls because 'God'.

In May Chris Christie refused to sign in a law banning the practice because he said it would conflict with 'religious customs'. Was he protecting Islamic customs? Of course not, this is white Christian custom.

At least 207,468 minors married in the US between 2000 and 2015, according to data compiled by Unchained At Last and investigative series Frontline.

The youngest wedded were three 10-year-old girls in Tennessee who married men aged 24, 25 and 31 in 2001.

Children as young as 12 were granted marriage licences in Alaska, Louisiana and South Carolina, while 11 other states allowed 13-year-olds to wed.

More than 1,000 children aged 14 or under were granted marriage licences.

Pretty shocking numbers. This is exactly the sort of thing people regularly and rightly criticise Sharia law for allowing, yet here it is happening on a massive scale across America.

Links, and sources??? Thank you.

originally posted by: WUNK22
Very common here in NYC “low income communities “ lol!!a reply to: Plotus

Allot of people are saying things, but no one is providing proof....I find it hard to believe a 10 year old would be married in NY City, I live in LA, and I have never heard of such a thing, in this day and age. Now I do know this was common practice back in the 1960s and 70s and before. I thought the laws were changed years ago.....

a reply to: eletheia
Your right. In this case, the boys were near the same age. I know this doesn't have much to do with the OP of "Child Brides" but rather the lack of parenting skills of the parents of these children. My neighbor next door, from NYC, Long Island had their daughter birthing at 15 and the Sons daughters both the same age, 15 and 15 and 1/2..
A sad loss of childhood...

O I know I shouldn't, but I'm becoming disillusioned with my county, maybe because I expect too much, but building a more perfect union is so freakin difficult..and yet we shouldn't complain because those who came before us, had it much worst.