The Fight to Ban Child Marriage

Under-18s can legally wed in most U.S. states but young spouses are often left physically, emotionally and economically vulnerable, campaigners say

- ANDREW STANTON

CHILD MARRIAGE REMAINS LEGAL IN MOST U.S. states, leaving minors open to abuse and vulnerabilities within the legal system, advocates say.

Only 12 states currently have a minimum marriage age of 18 with no exceptions, and about 300,000 children have gotten married since 2000, according to Unchained At Last, an organization that fights for laws banning child marriage.

Advocates warn that married minors face unique challenges in breaking out of poverty, are left vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse and may struggle to gain access to the systems intended to protect abuse victims.

Jenn Bradbury, now 45, is among those who got married before becoming an adult. At 16 years old, she wed a 44-year-old friend of her father-having been, she told Newsweek, groomed since the age of 14. She said that when her father found out about the abuse, he blamed and tried to kill her, leading to her mother taking Bradbury out of her father's home in Louisiana and moving her to Florida-but the abuse did not end, she said.

The friend of her father continued to visit, providing a house phone and utilities for her family while continuing to sexually abuse her, Bradbury said, eventually leading to an ectopic pregnancy.

Bradbury said that her mother believed the only way to fix the situation was to have the two get married, so they did. Years of challenges would follow.

"The judge didn't stop it. The clerk didn't say anything. No one stopped it. They just let it happen because it's allowed," Bradbury said.