West Virginia House Passes Bill that Would Ban Child Marriages

A bill that would ban child marriages is set to go before the West Virginia state Senate after passing the state House of Delegates Wednesday.

The bill, which the Republican-led House passed 84-13, would establish the age of consent for marriage at 18 years old and remove the ability for minors to get consent through parents, legal guardians, or by court petition, the Associated Press reported. The bill would not affect existing marriages.

“Currently, children can marry as young as 16 in West Virginia with parental consent. Anyone younger than that also must get a judge’s waiver,” the report states. 

West Virginia had marriages involving 259 girls and 52 boys under 18 years old between 2015 and 2019, according to the report, which cited state health statistics.

“Although recent figures are unavailable, according to the Pew Research Center, West Virginia had the highest rate of child marriages among the states in 2014, when its five-year average was 7.1 marriages for every 1,000 children ages 15 to 17,” the report states. 

Child marriage can “easily be forced marriage,” according to Unchained At Last, a nonprofit group that seeks to end child marriage. 

“The age of majority, when children become legal adults and get the rights of adulthood, is 18 or higher in every U.S. state. Children who have not yet reached the age of majority have limited legal rights and therefore can easily be forced into marriage or forced to stay in a marriage,” according to the organization.

“Perhaps most shockingly, children typically are not allowed to initiate a legal proceeding – such as seeking a protective order or even filing for divorce – unless they act through a guardian or other representative. This outrageous legal setup puts the ‘lock’ in ‘wedlock,'” the organization states.

Unchained At Last says people who are married before the age of 18 experience higher rates of physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse during their marriages, as well as unplanned pregnancies. Child marriage also “undermines statutory rape laws,” according to the organization. 

“In most states and under federal law, sex with a child that would otherwise be considered rape – in some cases, felony rape – becomes legal within marriage. In those situations, the marriage license becomes a ‘get out of jail free’ card for a child rapist,” the group states.

The organization continues:

In some states, statutory rape remains a crime within marriage. The marriage is legal, but sex within the marriage is rape. In those situations, the state that issues the marriage license sends a child home to be raped.

At least 60,000 child marriages in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018 occurred at an age or with a spousal age difference that should have been considered a sex crime. Of those child marriages, 88 percent gave a rapist a “get out of jail free” card, while 12 percent sent a child home to be raped. Either way, the marriage license made a mockery of statutory rape laws.

Seven out of 50 states have passed laws ending child marriage, including Massachusetts, Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Ten other states, including Texas and Vermont, have similar legislation pending.