United States: Delaware is First US State to Ban All Child Marriages, Without Exception
Saturday, May 12, 2018 11:50 AM

The Governor of Delaware has signed into law a bill that bans any marriage of a child under the age of eighteen. The bill contains no exceptions or loopholes, making Delaware the first US state to completely and “unequivocally” ban all child marriages. Other US states allow younger teens to marry with judicial or parental consent and/or have a lower marriageable age. According to Frontline, “[m]ore than 207,000 people under 18 were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2014 . . . . While most minors were 16 or 17 years old, some were as young as 12.” Most child brides were girls. 

 

Compiled from: Tsui, Anjali, Delaware Becomes First State to Ban Child Marriage, Frontline (May 9, 2018).