THE CHILDREN ARE NOT CHATTEL: How America’s Loopholes, Legislatures, and Silence Keep Child Marriage Alive
- Karen Brittingham-Edmond
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
May 27, 2026
By Echo News TV LLC — Special Report
North America - In a nation that calls itself the land of the free, a brutal truth remains buried in legal codes, religious exemptions, and political maneuvering: child marriage is still legal across most of the United States, and its defenders continue to cloak the practice in the language of “parental rights,” “tradition,” and “religious freedom.”
The recent uproar in Oklahoma—where Senate Bill 504 passed the House by a single vote, 51–36—exposed a reality many Americans still do not know. Until this month, Oklahoma had no statutory minimum age for marriage. Children under 16 could marry with a court order, and 16–17‑year‑olds could marry with parental consent.
As J.S. Candid stated in her viral commentary, “Somehow in that state, court orders were given.” The bill finally closed those loopholes, setting the minimum age at 18 with no exceptions. Yet 36 Republican lawmakers voted against banning child marriage, invoking arguments that echo centuries‑old justifications for controlling girls’ bodies.
Their objections—“parental rights,” “teen pregnancy,” and the myth of “mature minors”—mirror the same logic once used to justify chattel slavery, where children were treated as property, not people. The through‑line is unmistakable: when a society views children as assets to be traded, married off, or controlled, abuse becomes policy.
A Modern System Built on an Old Logic
Child marriage is not a fringe issue. It is not rare. It is not accidental. It is a system, and systems have architects. 300,000 children were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018.
Most were girls. Others were little boys. Most married adult White men.
(Koski, Van Roost, & Reiss, 2024)
In some states, a minor married to an adult cannot legally file for divorce. Domestic violence shelters often cannot accept unaccompanied minors. The result is a pipeline of entrapment—a legalized form of captivity.
This is not hyperbole. It is a documented fact.
The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking identifies child marriage as a direct pathway to sexual exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking, noting that the practice “mirrors servile marriage systems historically used to control women and girls” (Kakar, 2019).
The United States—despite signing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995—remains the only UN member state that has never ratified it, avoiding the obligation to ban marriage under 18 nationwide.
This is not oversight.
This is policy.
Gender, Power, and the Politics of Control
The 2024 study by Koski et al. found that over 75% of all married minors were girls, typically marrying men four or more years older. In many states, the age gap is far larger.
This gender imbalance is not incidental. It reflects a worldview in which girls are groomed for dependency, obedience, and early motherhood—conditions that benefit patriarchal structures, not children.
J.S. Candid highlights the hypocrisy: lawmakers who restrict gender‑affirming care, abortion access, and sex education suddenly champion “parental rights” when the issue is marrying off a child.
As she put it, “Parental rights don’t seem to matter when it comes to choice in this country… but when it comes to children getting married though, you can’t do that.”
The contradiction is intentional.
Control is the point.
The Shadow of Slavery
To understand child marriage in America, we must confront the nation’s original sin: chattel slavery, where Black children were bought, sold, raped, and forced into unions for economic gain.
The logic was simple and monstrous:
Children were property. Property could be exploited.
Today’s child marriage laws—especially those with religious exemptions—echo that same logic. The bodies of girls, particularly poor girls, are treated as commodities to be transferred from parent to husband.
Early abolitionists fought to end the ownership of human beings.
Today’s abolitionists must fight to end the ownership of children’s futures.
The Political Machinery Behind the Abuse
The resistance to banning child marriage is not random. It is ideological.
Lawmakers in Missouri, Idaho, South Dakota, and other states have openly defended the practice. One Missouri legislator infamously said teenage girls are “ripe”—a term historically used by enslavers to justify sexual exploitation.
Meanwhile, conservative media figures have begun reframing 15‑year‑old girls as “barely legal,” a linguistic grooming tactic that normalizes predatory behavior.
- 🔥 **Strip women‑dominated professions** (nursing, teaching, social work) of “professional” status
- 🎓 **Restrict student loan access** for those fields
- 💸 **Push women back into economic dependency**
- 🚨 **Reduce mandatory reporters** who could identify child abuse
As J.S. Candid notes, these professions are overwhelmingly female and legally required to report abuse. Weakening them weakens the safety net around children.
This is not a coincidence.
This is a strategy.
Abolition for the 21st Century
The fight against child marriage is a fight against:
Human Trafficking
Gender‑Based Violence
Religious Exploitation
Political Manipulation
The Remnants of Slavery
It is a fight for the soul of a nation that claims to protect its children while allowing them to be legally bound to adults.
Only 17 states have banned child marriage outright.
That number should shame every elected official in America.
The call to action is clear:
Congress must ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
States must eliminate every loophole.
Communities must reject the cultural grooming that normalizes abuse.
Children are not property.
Children are not bargaining chips.
Children are not brides.
The abolitionists of the 1800s fought to end the ownership of human beings.
The abolitionists of today must finish the work.
References (APA Style)
Kakar, S. (2019). Child/Forced/Servile Marriages ⇄ Human Trafficking. In J. Winterdyk & J. Jones (Eds.), The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63192-9_30-1 (doi.org in Bing)
Koski, A., Van Roost, K., & Reiss, F. (2024). State and sex-specific trends in the annual incidence of child marriage in the United States since the year 2000. Child Abuse & Neglect, 147, 106566.
Unchained At Last. (2021). Child Marriage in the United States: Executive Summary. (Microsoft Word – child marriage executive summary).
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