Around 4,500 children under the age of 18 got married in the state of Virginia between the years of 2004 and 2013. More than 200 girls among them were at their age of only 15.
The previous law made it legal for girls, aged 12 or 13 to get married if they had parental consent and were pregnant. A move that brought the new laws in the 21st Century ,followed a long fight with activists who said that the change was aimed at curbing forced marriage, human trafficking and statutory rape disguised as marriage.
According to the Washington Post , the legislation was the result of bills being passed by state politicians, Republican Jill Holtzman Vogel and Democrat Jennifer McClellan. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, similar bills were passed in California, Maryland, New Jersey and New York this year.
The law, which took effect on last Friday, set the age of 18, as a minimum age of marriage, if a child is emancipated by court order. It mentions parents and pregnancy out of the equation, as reported by the post.
The Tahirih Justice Centre, which is based in the city of Falls Church, which was within the groups of people who forced to change the law. Activists stated that the previous law created a “fast-track to child marriages” for abusers who could escape the investigation by child welfare officials by simply marrying their victims.
By Prakriti Neogi
