Children who are 18 years and below are getting married and no, not just in other countries where this practice is viewed as normal, but everyone will be surprised that it actually happens in America as well.
NPR recently released a news article revealing that this phenomenon is happening right in the America's shore and it could be very disturbing. Girls who are only 10 years old could already tie a knot with a man who is in his 40s in this country.
Statistics shows that there were about 3,500 children who got married in New Jersey in between the years of 1995 to 2012. A non-profit organization called Unchained At Last is handling this current issue to help a lot of women and children who are girls to be delivered from forced marriages.
The organization's executive director, Fraidy Reiss, said that most of these girls are 16 to 17 years of age. The 178 newly weds however that were gathered from the state health department data ranges from the age of 10 to 15, which is something very alarming. But this doesn't just happen in New Jersey, its connected state New York also has this issue that involves almost 4,000 children and they got married between 2000 and 2010.
This is huge deal and a real issue since both of these states have strict rules when it comes to getting married and people have to be 18 to be able to do it. But the thing is, the court could actually give exceptions as long as the child gets parental or judicial consent. There are states that allow these kinds of marriages as long as they see a parent signing the said act. The next time you hear of a child getting married in the US, don't be surprised.
