California has officially banned child marriage, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing legislation to end the practice that is still legal in 32 US states. The new law, which will come into effect on 1 January, states people must be 18 to get married in the Golden State. Newsom called it a "long overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors".
He signed the bill into law with Courtney Stodden whose parents allowed her to marry a 50-year-old Hollywood actor when she was just 16. Stodden, who has been advocating to end the practice, called the change a "victory" and said survivors of child marriage should "never have been expected to carry this burden". Stodden said she would "keep fighting until children are protected from marriage in all 50 states".
She was married to actor Doug Hutchison - known for roles in The Green Mile, A Time to Kill and I Am Sam - in 2011, spurring headlines internationally over the controversy and appearances on several reality programmes in the US, including the VH1 series Couples Therapy. Other survivors of child marriage also applauded the new law. "California has sent a clear message to the world today," Brittany Bee, a former child bride, told the BBC.
"A message of hope for all children that they may be free from systemic violence. That they may choose their own path." Bee told the BBC she was wed at the age of 17 to escape an abusive home - only to then be allegedly abused by her adult husband. "I was just going from one prison to another," she explained.
"People have the audacity to tell me that I made a choice - kids, they can't consent." Bee and other child marriage survivors have been working for years to have child marriages banned in California and across the United States. About a decade ago, the practice was still allowed across all US state but more and more states have been altering laws. California is the 18th to ban it since 2018.
In the state, there had been no legal age to wed, allowing children to get married as long as their parents consent and a judge signs off on the nuptials. There was also no mechanism for people under 18 to get divorced and many girls say they were trapped in abusive and predatory relationships. Unchained At Last, an advocacy group fighting to end child marriage across the US, said about 9,000 girls were wed each year in California and that almost all child marriages involved girls to adult men.
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