Children can still get married in California. These protesters want to change that

Protesters wore wedding gowns, duct-taped their mouths and chained their wrists on the steps of the California state Capitol on Thursday morning to call on lawmakers to set the minimum age of marriage in California to 18.

“Mouths taped, trapped and silenced. This is what life looks like for individuals right here in California who are forced to marry,” said Fraidy Reiss, founder and executive director of Unchained at Last, a nonprofit advocacy group working to end forced and child marriage in the United States.

Right now, anyone under 18 can marry in California with consent from a parent or guardian and court permission. Juvenile Court judicial officers interview the parent or guardian and individuals seeking a marriage license. Unchained at Last says this court review is not enough. The group is calling for a no-exceptions minimum age of 18.

“I closed my eyes and prayed that day that the judge could see my innocent face, my fear and anxiety. That moment when he proceeded to sign the piece of paper that allowed my parents to marry me off, my heart sank. I wanted to die,” said Fatemah, a child marriage survivor from Brooklyn, New York, who spoke at the event.

Unchained At Last conducted a study that estimated that nearly 23,600 minors were married in California between 2000 and 2018. Almost 90% of these minors were girls.

“We like to think in California that we lead. That we’re ahead of the curve. But when it comes to child marriage, we aren’t leading. We aren’t even following. We are failing,” said Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach.

Petrie-Norris told The Sacramento Bee that she plans to work with Unchained at Last to introduce legislation making a no-exceptions minimum marriage age in California next year.

Effort to ban child marriage failed in 2018

Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, introduced a bill in 2017 that would’ve made marriage illegal for those under 18 with no exceptions. The measure failed after facing opposition from rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union’s Northern California affiliate and Planned Parenthood. A watered-down version of the bill that passed created stricter court proceedings and requires Family Court officers to interview all parties before granting a marriage license to a minor.

Reiss said that Unchained at Last did not receive pushback from ACLU chapters in any other state except Illinois. Nationally, the ACLU does not have a position on child marriage.

“I hope the ACLU had some time to do some research and realize they got this one really wrong,” Reiss said.

The downtown Sacramento event was the most recent of a string of ‘Chain-Ins’ hosted by Unchained At Last at state capitals around the country. Recent protests occurred in Michigan, Vermont and Connecticut.

Eight states have laws barring marriage under 18 with no exceptions. On Friday, Connecticut will become the ninth; Michigan this week is expected to become the 10th.