National Coalition to End Child Marriage
End Gender-Violence Zonta Says NO!
US Women at the UN
VAWA 2022 § 1204(c) Report to Congress
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
FEBRUARY 2024
“
This Report surveys laws in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands (hereinafter “the states” or “the jurisdictions”). It compiles data on the age of legal consent in each jurisdiction, including whether the age of consent is different based on the relationship between the parties or subject to an exception where the parties are close in age. It also compiles data on the marriage age in each state, including whether an individual can marry at a younger age, conditioned on judicial approval or consent of a parent or guardian, or other conditions. The Report then compares the ages of legal consent and the marriage ages to determine whether that jurisdiction permits a person to marry at an age where voluntary sexual acts between the married parties would otherwise be a crime absent the marriage. It considers whether there is a marital defense or exception to age-based sex offense laws and assesses the legal consistency of such laws with the state’s minimum marriage age.
Jurisdictions Permitting Marriage at an Age Covered by Age-Based Sex Offenses
In 42 jurisdictions (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District
of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina,
North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands), a person could be married at an age where voluntary sexual acts between the parties outside of the marriage would be a crime. The following assessment juxtaposes the minimum marriage age with the age of consent for each jurisdiction. It includes examples to illustrate whether the jurisdiction’s statutes are legally inconsistent (i.e., the jurisdiction’s statutes permit a minor to marry but criminalizes the spouse’s conduct if the married parties engage in voluntary sexual acts) or legally consistent …
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