The French should know one when they see one.

There are people who certainly knew- such as the people who showed up at the start of meetings only to skedaddle so he could make his moves - they knew. “Enabler” is an insufficient term when it is active complicity in a crime. Will those people point to that portion of their resume and claim to be a victim too, of…

I had no idea that a 10 or 12 year old could be married in the US, except maybe in some closed fundamentalist religious group that kept the marriage out of the public record. It’s shocking and horrible. How it can be justified legally or morally is beyond me. I hope these articles about forced underage marriages get…

I agree with your take on things. If a girl in India has been married off as a young child, banning sex in thst marriage until she is of the age of consent is not any kind of real solution to the problem that she had all choice in her life taken away from her before she was even aware if it. It’s an appalling…

it is far far better by any objective measure to be a woman in the US or UK, than in India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh. However, that is a controversial thing to say, here.

I have seen no statistics or studies to indicate what proportion of marriages involving minors are coerced/arranged, and the data would probably be hard to come by. It may be predominant in some religious or immigrant populations, but IMO it is child sex abuse and should be prosecuted.I agree that minors shouldn’t be…

No one decided that I had to get married while still child. In that respect, I am better off than 12 million girls under the age of 10 that are married in India. And in the US it is teenagers marrying with parental or court permission, not “leaving it up to hormonal teenagers”. So yeah, it really is so much better…

I agree - it hardly makes sense to say a child isn’t capable of consent to sex with an adult, but can consent to sex within marriage.

I always assumed that if a state granted a couple a marriage licence then that couple could have consensual sex without violating the law, anywhere in the US. Your reply made me think again, and, not being a lawyer, I turned to Wikipedia:

Jeez. NOWHERE did I say either arranged or underaged marriages were neglible. Nowhere. In fact I said the latter are common. Should I tell YOU that YOU think the situation in the US is no different to having 12 million girls married under the age of 10 as in India? Please just allow me to have my opinion and if you…

As you just said, you assumed I was ignorant of Jeffs. You knew about him, but felt the need to tell me to look him up? Why assume I know less than you? Your original reply to me wasn’t combative but it was condescending. This one is more combative.

I guarantee you that in Texas, which has the highest rate of marriage involving minors (according to a link posted elsewhere on this thread) the numbers can’t be attributed to the ultra orthodox.

I’d be interested to see the statistics to support your assertions. Otherwise, it just seems like an opinion.

I said nothing about children marrying much older men in the US. In the US it is not uncommon in some states for 16 year olds to marry 16/17/18 year olds because they think they are in love. It is foolish but culturally acceptable, more so in some regions of the country. Forced marriage involving a minor is child…

“And then you can just look up Warren Jeffs.”

I was referring to arranged marriages involving minors, not situations where a matchmaker or parents coerced/initiated an engagement that led to marriage after HS or college graduation. At that age the girl is an adult and can make her own choice even if it may be difficult. Not at all the same as an arranged marriage…

The OP’s point seemed to be about the legality of marriage involving a minor. Yes, we allow it here. But the Indian court’s ruling didn’t ban it in that country. As the article said there are 12 million girls under ten(!!) who are married in India. And those would all be arranged marriages, since small children…

There’s a significant difference IMO between parents giving permission for under 18s to marry, and parents arranging for it.

Slightly OT, but is she smoking a cigarette on stage?