10/20/2026
👏 Thank you CA! Let’s put WI on the list next.
Until three weeks ago, California set no minimum age for marriage at all. A child of any age could be wed, provided a parent consented and a judge signed off -- and over two decades, some 35,000 of them were, the vast majority teenage girls married to adult men. It took nine years, three legislative attempts, and a coalition of survivors who refused to let it die -- but on September 30, the ban finally passed, and Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law, making California the 18th state to end child marriage outright, with no exceptions.
What that loophole allowed was, by any other name, abuse. Because the age of consent in California is 18, a child too young to legally consent to s*x could nonetheless be bound for life to an adult -- the marriage license serving, in effect, as a shield against the statutory-rape laws that would otherwise apply.
"Children are children, and marriage is an adult decision," said Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who wrote the bill. The damage is well documented: girls married as children are far likelier to drop out of school, to end up in poverty, and to face serious health problems down the line.
The victory belonged, above all, to the survivors who had refused to let it die. "For nine years we have been begging, cajoling, urging and protesting," said Fraidy Reiss, who founded the advocacy group Unchained at Last after being forced into marriage herself as a teenager. "Every setback over the last nine years taught us something, strengthened the coalition and made us better advocates. We refused to give up because we knew that millions of girls in the Golden State were relying on us."
For Courtney Stodden, who was married as a teenager, the law meant something simpler and more personal. "I spent years wishing someone had protected the little girl I used to be," she wrote. "Today, California protected the next one."
California is the eighteenth state to end it. Thirty-two have not -- and in two of them, Mississippi and New Mexico, a child of any age can still be married, exactly as California allowed until this ban finally passed. Across the county, approximately 315,000 children were legally married in the United States between 2000 and 2021. Unchained at Last, which drove the nine-year fight here, is now waging the same campaign in statehouses across the country, determined not to stop until child marriage is illegal in all fifty states.
In addition to these state-by-state efforts, a federal bill was introduced last summer. The Child Marriage Prevention Act would encourage states to set the minimum marriage age at 18 with no exceptions, bar child marriages on federal property, close the immigration loopholes that allow minors to be brought into the country on spousal and fiancé visas, and give states model legislation and grant funding to end the practice. Introduced in July and now before the Judiciary Committees in both chambers, it would mark the most comprehensive federal action against child marriage the country has seen.
--> To urge your senators and representative to support this new bill, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to cosponsor the Child Marriage Prevention Act.
--> To learn about child marriage in the U.S. today and how you can get involved in local efforts to end the practice in the 32 states where it is still legal, visit the non-profit, anti-child marriage organization Unchained At Last at https://www.unchainedatlast.org/child-marriage-in-the-u-s/
For a powerful book for teen readers about how girls and women are fighting against child marriage, s*x trafficking, and gender discrimination around the world, we highly recommend "Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time," for ages 13 and up, visit https://www.amightygirl.com/girl-rising-book
For an award-winning book about an Indian girl who is married at 13 and dares to defy her fate, we recommend “Homeless Bird” for ages 9 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/homeless-bird
For a gripping account from Yemeni anti-child marriage activist Nujood Ali, who successfully won a divorce at age 10, check out "I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced" for ages 16 and up https://www.amightygirl.com/i-am-nujood
