Child marriage legal in 37 US states

Despite global focus on South Asia and Africa, child marriage remains legal in 37 US states, with over 300,000 cases reported since 2000.

The global dialogue over child marriage frequently focusses on South Asia, which includes countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, as well as several African countries.

This concentrated attention on these areas has overshadowed the prevalence of this harmful practice in other parts of the world especially the superpower United States.

Though it is widely believed that child marriage is a problem limited to backward regions of the world, the fact that child marriages are still legal in most of the United States indicates that reform is urgently needed in the country.

India has made significant strides in combating child marriage through strict laws and enforcement. While the practice is now a punishable offense with severe penalties, the United States presents a stark contrast. 

According to Unchained At Last, an organization in the United States that works to end child and forced marriage, Child marriage, or marriage before age 18, was legal in all 50 US states as of 2017. 

Delaware and New Jersey in 2018 became the first two states to end this human rights abuse, followed by American Samoa in 2018, the US Virgin Islands, Pennsylvania and Minnesota in 2020, Rhode Island and New York in 2021, Massachusetts in 2022 Vermont, Connecticut and Michigan in 2023, and Washington, Virginia and New Hampshire in 2024.