In case you think it only happens in other countries
Jacob S
Registrant
Child Marriage – Shocking Statistics
Unchained spent nearly a year retrieving and analyzing marriage-license data from across the US. The groundbreaking research project revealed that child marriage is a significant problem in America.
248,000
Some 248,000 children at least as young as 12 were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2010.
Actual data from 38 states showed more than 167,000 children wed in that decade. The other 12 states and Washington, DC, could not provide the data. For them, Unchained estimated the number of children wed, based on the strong correlation Unchained identified between population and child marriage.
These were not "Romeo and Juliet" situations. Some 77% of the children wed were minor girls married to adult men, often with significant age differences. Some children were wed at an age, or with a spousal age difference, that constitutes statutory rape under their state's laws.
Unchained spent nearly a year retrieving and analyzing marriage-license data from across the US. The groundbreaking research project revealed that child marriage is a significant problem in America.
248,000
Some 248,000 children at least as young as 12 were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2010.
Actual data from 38 states showed more than 167,000 children wed in that decade. The other 12 states and Washington, DC, could not provide the data. For them, Unchained estimated the number of children wed, based on the strong correlation Unchained identified between population and child marriage.
These were not "Romeo and Juliet" situations. Some 77% of the children wed were minor girls married to adult men, often with significant age differences. Some children were wed at an age, or with a spousal age difference, that constitutes statutory rape under their state's laws.
