Child Marriage Ban Bill Defeated in West Virginia House

[iluvatar5150]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill that would have prohibited minors from getting married in West Virginia was defeated Wednesday night in a legislative committee.

The Republican-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee rejected the bill on a 9-8 vote, a week after it passed the House of Delegates.

In a rebuke, Cabell County Democratic Sen. Mike Woelfel reminded the committee after the vote that Wednesday was International Women’s Day.

Some of the bill’s opponents have argued that teenage marriages are a part of life in West Virginia.

Kanawha County Republican Sen. Mike Stuart, a former federal prosecutor who sided with the majority, said his vote “wasn’t a vote against women.” He said his mother was married when she was 16, and “six months later, I came along. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

ETA: Forgot the link

Child marriage ban bill defeated in West Virginia House

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill that would have prohibited minors from getting married in West Virginia was defeated Wednesday night in a legislative committee.

apnews.com

 

[Hammster]

Why is this a problem?

 

[iluvatar5150]

Why is this a problem?

Because kids are too young to consent to decisions like this, and are ripe targets for actual grooming (i.e. not the drag queen story hour kind).

 

[Hammster]

Because kids are too young to consent to decisions like this, and are ripe targets for actual grooming (i.e. not the drag queen story hour kind).

Do you know what the current law is?

 

[iluvatar5150]

Do you know what the current law is?

According to the link that I initially forgot to include in the OP:

Currently, children can marry as young as 16 in West Virginia with parental consent. Anyone younger than that also must get a judge’s waiver.

The new law would have:

Bill to ban child marriage passes West Virginia House

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill Wednesday that would prohibit minors from getting married.

apnews.com

The bill would establish that 18 is the age of consent. It removes the ability of a minor to obtain consent through their parents, legal guardians, or by court petition. Existing legal marriages, including those done in other states, are unaffected.

 

[Hammster]

According to the link that I initially forgot to include in the OP:



The new law would have:

Bill to ban child marriage passes West Virginia House

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill Wednesday that would prohibit minors from getting married.

apnews.com

So there’s no issue with consent or grooming.

 

[iluvatar5150]

So there’s no issue with consent or grooming.

Huh?

Perhaps I should have worded my previous comment as: "kids are not mature enough to meaningfully consent." IOW, I was making a statement about their maturity and decision-making abilities, not their legal capacity.

The bill would have changed the legal age of consent removed some of the potential avenues a groomer could have used to ensnare a young victim.

 

[Hammster]

Huh?

Perhaps I should have worded my previous comment as: "kids are not mature enough to meaningfully consent." IOW, I was making a statement about their maturity and decision-making abilities, not their legal capacity.

The bill would have changed the legal age of consent removed some of the potential avenues a groomer could have used to ensnare a young victim.

They cannot just consent on their own, as you showed in the previous post. Parents must give permission.

 

[iluvatar5150]

They cannot just consent on their own, as you showed in the previous post. Parents must give permission.

I never said that they could. However, that's not especially comforting given the fact that abusers are typically someone the child (and likely the parents, too) would know. Parents can be complicit in the problem.

 

[Hammster]

I never said that they could. However, that's not especially comforting given the fact that abusers are typically someone the child (and likely the parents, too) would know. Parents can be complicit in the problem.

I’m sure there’s plenty of documentation to support that.

 

[rturner76]

Why is this a problem?

Because you should need to be an adult before getting married. It's much better to marry two consenting adults than sell a child bride to an old man. Do we live in a third-world country or do we live in a country where women can choose who they marry?

 

[iluvatar5150]

I’m sure there’s plenty of documentation to support that.

to support what? That abusers are typically people the child knows?

This is merely the first article I found that cites a number, but as far as I'm aware, that point is not remotely in dispute.

Ninety-five percent of child sexual abuse is committed by a family member or acquaintance, according to a 2006 Office of Justice Programs report on juvenile crime and victimization.

 

[Hammster]

Because you should need to be an adult before getting married. It's much better to marry two consenting adults than sell a child bride to an old man. Do we live in a third-world country or do we live in a country where women can choose who they marry?

Okay, why should you be an adult? What’s the difference between 17 years, 11 1/2 months, and 18 years?

 

[Hammster]

to support what? That abusers are typically people the child knows?

This is merely the first article I found that cites a number, but as far as I'm aware, that point is not remotely in dispute.

I’m talking about 16 year olds getting married and it happening because of abusive parents. I mean, if there’s a proposed law, it must be some horrible thing happening somewhere.

 

[dogs4thewin]

Because you should need to be an adult before getting married. It's much better to marry two consenting adults than sell a child bride to an old man. Do we live in a third-world country or do we live in a country where women can choose who they marry?

16 is the age in most states to consent to sex alone ( no parents required. If a "child" is 16 I doubt they would be trying to marry someone in their 30s or 40s. There has to be some minimum age do not misunderstand, but at the same time how do we come up with those ages 16 is old enough to drive, have sex and in some states drop out of school. At eighteen a person may vote, be sentenced to death ( where allowed) join any branch of the service without the parents' consent. in most states sign contracts ( NE, Al, and MS have ages of 19 or in MS. case 21 for that). At 21 you may smoke, drink and gamble, yet you must be 25 to rent a car without underage riders when you could buy one years earlier. Point being that being an "adult does not happen overnight it happens literally over a period of years.

 

[essentialsaltes]

I’m talking about 16 year olds getting married and it happening because of abusive parents. I mean, if there’s a proposed law, it must be some horrible thing happening somewhere.

In Some Muslim Circles, Grown Men Pursuing Teens Isn't All That Unusual​

In the fundamentalist Muslim circles that Samira Field grew up in, the word “courtship” doesn’t evoke romantic images of men and women batting eyelashes at each other in a parlor, or writing love poetry by candlelight.
Rather, in these communities, “courtship” refers to an intricate set of rules and practices intended to help young people find parent-approved spouses.

“Everyone assumes it is a good idea for a girl to marry a man at least 10 years her senior, because that way he’s established,” Field said. “He has a job and all that.”

Courtship, as it’s practiced in some fundamentalist communities, is a way for Muslim parents to help arrange their children’s marriages, vet potential partners and make sure their children end up in happy and faithful relationships.

 

[rturner76]

Okay, why should you be an adult? What’s the difference between 17 years, 11 1/2 months, and 18 years?

I don't understand what these dates mean as it relates to the nation of Israel breaking away from Judah

 

[rturner76]

I doubt they would be trying to marry someone in their 30s or 40s.

Many of them don't want to become a bride who has been given to an older man based on the parents giving away their young daughter's virginity. they would often desire to be the wife of the person they love without their parents forcing them to marry the person of their parents choosing.

At 21 you may smoke, drink and gamble, yet you must be 25 to rent a car without underage riders when you could buy one years earlier.

That is an insurance issue but being forced to marry someone you don't know or even care about is oppressive. Adults should be able to marry the person they choose rather that the parents choosing a spouse for their teenager.

 

[dogs4thewin]

Many of them don't want to become a bride who has been given to an older man based on the parents giving away their young daughter's virginity. they would often desire to be the wife of the person they love without their parents forcing them to marry the person of their parents choosing.

That is an insurance issue but being forced to marry someone you don't know or even care about is oppressive. Adults should be able to marry the person they choose rather that the parents choosing a spouse for their teenager.

Who said the teens were forced to marry?

 

[Hammster]

In Some Muslim Circles, Grown Men Pursuing Teens Isn't All That Unusual​

In the fundamentalist Muslim circles that Samira Field grew up in, the word “courtship” doesn’t evoke romantic images of men and women batting eyelashes at each other in a parlor, or writing love poetry by candlelight.
Rather, in these communities, “courtship” refers to an intricate set of rules and practices intended to help young people find parent-approved spouses.

“Everyone assumes it is a good idea for a girl to marry a man at least 10 years her senior, because that way he’s established,” Field said. “He has a job and all that.”

Courtship, as it’s practiced in some fundamentalist communities, is a way for Muslim parents to help arrange their children’s marriages, vet potential partners and make sure their children end up in happy and faithful relationships.

And where is this happening in W. Virginia?