Despite the advancement of human and women’s rights over the past few centuries, children, specifically girls under the age of eighteen, are still pressured into marriages. As of 2018, there is no federal law that bans marriage involving at least one child, as individual states set their own age requirements. Until recently, Kentucky has had no minimum age for marriage up until January 2, 2018, when Republican Senator Julie Raque Adams from Louisville, Kentucky, with the co-sponsorship of Republican Senators Ralph Alvarado and Will Schroder and Democratic Senators Denise Harper Angel and Morgan McGarvey, sponsored Senate Bill 48 (SB 48), also known as the “Child Bride Bill”, to raise the legal age of marriage in the state. The Child Bride Bill
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Prior to the passage of the Child Bride Bill, Kentucky had no statutory age minimum for a child to marry, meaning pregnant girls as young as thirteen could marry the father of their child. Additionally, the parental consent of only one parent can lower the legal marriage age, and if the child is not under sixteen, no judicial approval is required. As for parties under sixteen, the decision rests solely in the discretion of the judge (“Protect Kentucky’s children…”). SB 48, which passed on March 19, 2018 and was signed by Republican Governor Matt Bevin on March 29, 2018, explicitly prohibits the marriage of any child under seventeen year of age and establishes a clear procedure for seventeen-year-olds who wish to marry. The requirements for a seventeen-year-old to marry include that the child must meet the requirements of legal emancipation, meaning the child has a source of income and can prove his or her independence. Additionally, a judge must check that the intended spouse is not on the National Sex Offender public website or has past domestic violence issues, and the court can deny a marriage request if the intended spouse is in a position of authority over the minor. The minor must also receive permission from his or her parent before marriage can be approved (Blackford). Unfortunately for the victims of child
Prior to the passage of the Child Bride Bill, Kentucky had no statutory age minimum for a child to marry, meaning pregnant girls as young as thirteen could marry the father of their child. Additionally, the parental consent of only one parent can lower the legal marriage age, and if the child is not under sixteen, no judicial approval is required. As for parties under sixteen, the decision rests solely in the discretion of the judge (“Protect Kentucky’s children…”). SB 48, which passed on March 19, 2018 and was signed by Republican Governor Matt Bevin on March 29, 2018, explicitly prohibits the marriage of any child under seventeen year of age and establishes a clear procedure for seventeen-year-olds who wish to marry. The requirements for a seventeen-year-old to marry include that the child must meet the requirements of legal emancipation, meaning the child has a source of income and can prove his or her independence. Additionally, a judge must check that the intended spouse is not on the National Sex Offender public website or has past domestic violence issues, and the court can deny a marriage request if the intended spouse is in a position of authority over the minor. The minor must also receive permission from his or her parent before marriage can be approved (Blackford). Unfortunately for the victims of child