Child marriage still exists in America, and paradoxically so. On the one hand, The U.S. State Department’s Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls calls for a reduction of child marriage in other countries, citing harms such as interrupted education.
Yet child marriage persists throughout the nation in significant, albeit decreasing, numbers. This disconnect has not escaped notice of foreign observers. “It pushes for bans abroad, but the practice is allowed at home,” muses the Economist in a headline.
So how prevalent is it? In 2017, PBS Frontline analyzed marriage records from 41 states — not including Oklahoma — and found that more than 200,000 minors were married between 2000 and 2015. Child marriages occurred across all racial, ethnic, religious and socioeconomic lines.
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State laws determine what age a child can be married and under what circumstances. Delaware and New Jersey have outlawed all marriages of people under 18. The other 48 states and the District of Columbia set the legal marriage age at 18 but carved out various exceptions for minors, such as parental consent or pregnancy.
The majority of U.S. child marriages involve 16- and 17 year-olds. However, marriage records obtained by the Tahirih Justice Center showed that children as young as 12 and 13 have been married in a handful of U.S. states, as recently as 2013.
In the aftermath of a Kansas City Star series that revealed that their state had become a “destination wedding spot — for 15-year-old brides,” Missouri lawmakers raised the minimum marriage age to 16 last year. The state’s lenient law had allowed 15-year-olds to get married without judicial approval.
Before the law was changed, 1,000 15-year-old brides were married in Missouri from 1999 to 2017, many of them to men older than 21.
Oklahoma law permits court clerks to issue a marriage license to a 16- or 17-year-old with the consent of one parent and after reviewing proof of the child’s age. The law is more restrictive for children under 16, requiring judicial approval, and only in the circumstance where the child is pregnant or has a child. Oklahoma requires a 72-hour waiting period for minors getting married.
Data on child marriage in Oklahoma is lacking. No analysis of marriage records exists. The Pew Research Center has provided an inkling. Using American Community Survey response data from 2010 to 2014, Pew estimates that 5.8 per 1,000 Oklahoma 15- to 17-year-olds are married. This places Oklahoma above the national average.
Research on child marriage paints a concerning picture. Divorce rates are high. Completion of high school is less likely, thereby limiting economic opportunity. It is associated with domestic violence and human trafficking.
Opponents of child marriage question why a child must be 18 to vote or to purchase tobacco, but can marry at 16. They ask, given the risks, why not just wait until age 18?
Efforts are underway in several states to impose a total ban on child marriage. Supporters of a total ban have faced opposition from ideologically diverse groups. Opponents of a total ban include civil libertarians, who object to government intrusion on the fundamental right to marriage.
Some youth advocates argue that — provided protections against coercion are in place — older unaccompanied youth can make fully informed decisions about marriage.
Absent a total ban, the risk of pressure or coercion from parents or other adults is very real. The Tahirih Justice Center points out that many state laws are lacking in meaningful safeguards against forced child marriage. In their report titled “Falling Through the Cracks,” the report’s authors offer thoughtful suggestions on what such safeguards might look like.
For anyone concerned about child marriage in Oklahoma, data would be helpful. In addition to reviewing marriage records, input from court clerks, judges, youth advocates and youth themselves, will yield a much more informed picture.
Adrienne Watt Nesser is a Tulsa attorney and a member of the Tulsa World Community Advisory Board. Opinion pieces by board members appear in this space most weeks.