California banned child marriage. But it remains legal in 32 US states

According to the new law, which comes into force on January 1, 2027, only individuals who have reached the age of 18 will be able to marry in California.

Newsom called it "a measure that was long overdue to protect young Californians and children."

Local resident Courtney Stodden, whose parents married her off to a 50-year-old Hollywood actor when she was 16, was present at the law's signing ceremony.

Stodden, who had long advocated for a ban on child marriage, called the law's passage a victory. She stated that children who had experienced such a practice "should never have had to bear such a burden."

She vowed "not to stop fighting until children in all 50 states are protected from marriage."

Stodden's husband was actor Doug Hutchison, known for his roles in films such as The Green Mile, A Time to Kill, and I Am Sam.

They married in 2011, and their wedding was widely covered by the press, with the couple appearing on several reality shows, including the American TV channel VH1 series Couples Therapy.

Without a Minimum Age

The law's passage was also welcomed by other individuals who married before reaching adulthood.

"Today, California sent a very important signal to the world," said Brittany Bee, who was married as a child. "It's a signal of hope for all children that they can be free from systemic abuse. That they can choose their own path."

Bee told the BBC that she married at 17 to escape domestic violence, but, according to her, she herself became a victim of abuse from her adult husband.

"I simply went from one prison to another," she explained. "And they still have the audacity to claim that I made my own decisions. Children cannot consent to marriage."

Bee and other survivors of child marriage have tried for many years to achieve a ban on such practices in California and other regions of the United States.

About ten years ago, child marriages were permitted in all US states, but recently, legislation has been changing more frequently. Since 2018, California has become the 18th state to introduce a ban.

Previously, California had no minimum marriage age, allowing children to marry if their parents consented and a judge approved the marriage.

For individuals under 18, there was also no mechanism for divorce, leading many girls to complain that they could not leave relationships where they were subjected to violence or became victims of exploitation.

The group Unchained At Last, which fights against child marriage in the US, states that about 9,000 girls were married each year in California — and almost all marriage unions involving minors were between girls and adult men.

Opponents of child marriage say that many in the US simply do not know that such a practice is permitted in so many states, nor the extent of reported abuse in such relationships.

Married at 15

Sara Tasneem says that when she was 15, she was forced to marry a man who was twice her age.

She told the BBC that she started fighting against child marriage back in 2017, and now it seems incredible to her that the state has finally recognized the need to ban child marriage.

According to Tasneem, she was introduced to her future husband on the morning of their wedding day.

"I was forced to become his wife, and that day my whole life changed," she told the BBC.

The year after her marriage, she gave birth to a child, and at 16, she stopped attending school.

"Bringing this project to fruition has been a real marathon," says Tasneem. "I'm just grateful that from January 1, 2027, children in California will not be able to marry."

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