An outdated NC law has allowed thousands of minors to marry. Change it to protect children.
Most people don’t realize North Carolina is tied (with Alaska) for the lowest statutory legal age of marriage in the country, set at 14 in case of pregnancy.
North Carolina law allows 14- and 15-year-olds to marry if pregnant or parenting, and 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with parental consent.
It’s true. But what no one realized is how often it’s still happening.
Until today, we couldn’t measure the extent of the problem in North Carolina because there was no publicly available data. However, we recently requested and received all marriage license applications dating back to the year 2000 in 50 counties across the state.
What we found is deeply distressing.
Thousands of children have been married legally under North Carolina law in recent years, and yes, some as young as 14. The most egregious age difference between “spouses” was 40 years, between a 57- and 17-year-old. A shocking example, but also a legal one.
We found that at least 3,949 marriage license applications involving 4,218 minors occurred in the 50 counties reporting between 2000-2019. Assuming similar rates across the remaining 50 counties and extrapolating by population, we’ve estimated the total number of child marriages that took place in the state, and this estimate places us among the top five states in the nation for highest prevalence of child marriage – the others being Texas, Florida, Kentucky and Alabama.
What’s more, the current marriage-age law sanctions sex that would otherwise be considered statutory rape. North Carolina law defines sexual intercourse between two parties with an age difference of four years or greater when one is 15 or younger as a felony. But this was the case in 57 percent of the marriage licenses we reviewed.
More alarming still is anecdotal evidence that North Carolina is becoming a destination for people who are being denied marriage licenses in other states. In fact, just last year the register of deeds in Buncombe County was asked to issue a marriage license to a 49 year-old man from Kentucky who intended to marry a 17 year-old girl. He denied the petition, only to have it approved in a neighboring county.
This case illustrates the urgent need to close legal loopholes that are not only leaving North Carolina children vulnerable, but also attracting predators from other states. It’s high time North Carolina followed its neighbors and the national trend by raising the age of marriage to 18, which has been shown to be the simplest, most straightforward and most powerful way to protect children not only from forced and abusive marriages, but also from all the other risks and harms that come from marrying too young. Indeed, research by ICRW and others has consistently shown a direct correlation between increasing the age of marriage and improved health, education and economic outcomes for children and their families.
Organizations like the Tahirih Justice Center have helped our neighbors develop legal solutions beginning with Virginia in 2016; since then 25 states have enacted new laws to prevent children from being forced or coerced into marriages, with dramatic results . In Virginia, Texas and Kentucky, all of which restrict marriage to legal adults, there has been a 90 percent reduction in the numbers of minors married.
We can follow their lead and end child marriage in NC. We can no longer ignore the impact of an outdated law.
It’s time to get our house in order. The future of our children and our state depend on it.
This story was originally published August 30, 2020 at 12:00 AM.