Brides in chains call on Michigan to end child marriage
Dressed in white wedding gowns with chained wrists and taped mouths, women advocates rallied for legislation to end child marriage in Michigan on the steps of the state Capitol Thursday, May 4.
Because the state currently has no minimum age to get married, Michigan children are at risk of having their educational and economic opportunities ruined at the hands of adults they wed or parents who marry them off, the advocates said.
“While the marriage age is 18, there are loopholes so gaping and dangerous that they effectively lower that average age to zero,” said Fraidy Reiss, founder and executive director of Unchained At Last, a nonprofit advocating for the end of child marriage in the U.S. “Child marriage undermines our statutory rape laws, and it gives a ‘get-out-of-jail’ free card to child rapists.”
In Michigan, 16- and 17-year-olds can get married with a parent’s permission. Younger children can get married with the permission of a judge.
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2023/05/brides-in-chains-call-on-michigan-to-end-child-marriage.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Kick in to the DU tip jar?
This week we're running a special pop-up mini fund drive. From Monday through Friday we're going ad-free for all registered members, and we're asking you to kick in to the DU tip jar to support the site and keep us financially healthy.
As a bonus, making a contribution will allow you to leave kudos for another DU member, and at the end of the week we'll recognize the DUers who you think make this community great.