National Coalition to End Child Marriage
End Gender-Violence Zonta Says NO!
Let’s End this Human rights abuse
Shocking that it is allowed
Rep. Hill, of San Mateo, called discovering that child marriage is allowed in California — and the fight against his attempt to ban it — “the big shock of my life.” He became involved in the issue when a young constituent told him about a 13-year-old at her school who was engaged to be married to a 28-year-old in another country.
“I was amazed and appalled and frankly ashamed of California, that we had not done anything about this,” he said.
Statutory Rape Exclusion
“If you have sex with a child in California, you can be prosecuted,” she said, but marrying a minor amounts to a “get out of jail free card.”
Marriages reported to the state last year include one between a 16-year-old girl and 20-year-old man in San Diego County and a 17-year-old-girl and a 23-year-old man in Stanislaus County, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.
Statutory rape charges vary depending on the age gap between the victim and perpetrator, according to the California penal code. Someone three years older than the minor can be charged with a misdemeanor while someone more than three years older can be charged with a felony.
A report by a U.S. Senate committee in 2019 raised concerns that girls in immigrant families could be at higher risk, saying that immigration law “encourages” child marriage. That report cited girls as young as 13 being married to older men seeking entry into the country.”
#California #Endchildmarriage #Statutoryrapeexclusion #CAleg
Read the full article at the LA Times
Message your state representatives: ActNOW with Zonta USA and UNICEF USA https://act.unicefusa.org/childmarriage