California bans marriage under 18, becoming 18th US state to end child marriage

California enacts complete marriage age limit

Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation establishing an absolute minimum marriage age of 18 in California, removing all statutory exceptions for minors. Prior to this legislation, the state maintained no minimum age requirement, permitting minors of any age to marry provided they received parental consent and judicial sign-off. Newsom framed the law as a necessary and long-overdue step to protect minors and youth across the state from exploitation and early forced unions. The ban takes effect on 1 January, establishing California as the 18th US state to outlaw child marriage entirely since nationwide legislative reforms began in 2018.

I will keep fighting until children are protected from marriage in all 50 states.

Survivor advocacy at the bill signing

Advocates who experienced child marriage attended the signing event in Sacramento. Courtney Stodden, who wed 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison at age 16 in 2011, stood alongside Newsom during the ceremony. Hutchison is known for acting roles in films including The Green Mile, A Time to Kill, and I Am Sam. The 2011 wedding generated extensive international media attention and led to appearances on television programmes including the VH1 series Couples Therapy. Stodden described the legislative ban as a victory, stating that survivors should never have been expected to carry such a burden and pledging to continue campaigning across the country.

California has sent a clear message to the world today. A message of hope for all children that they may be free from systemic violence. That they may choose their own path.

Survivor accounts of domestic abuse and legal barriers

Survivor Brittany Bee told the BBC that she married at age 17 to flee an abusive household, only to experience subsequent abuse from her adult husband. Bee emphasised that minors cannot provide legal consent to marriage and described the experience as transitioning from one prison to another. Survivor Sara Tasneem recounted being forced into an arranged marriage at age 15 to an adult man nearly twice her age, meeting him on the morning of the ceremony. Following the marriage, Tasneem became a mother at age 16, had to leave school, and began lobbying California lawmakers in 2017 to prohibit underage marriage entirely.

National scope and remaining state laws

Data compiled by the national advocacy organisation Unchained At Last indicates that approximately 9,000 minors were married in California each year prior to the ban. The organisation stated that almost all recorded cases involved underage girls wed to adult men. Under previous California statutes, minors had no legal mechanism to file for divorce before turning 18, leaving young brides unable to exit abusive marriages independently. Unchained At Last noted that many in the country remain unaware of how widely child marriage is permitted. While all 50 US states permitted child marriage a decade ago, 32 states continue to allow marriages under age 18 through parental consent or judicial approval exceptions.