Not a ‘Groom,’ but ‘Grooming’: It’s Past Time to End Child Marriage (Like Aaliyah to R. Kelly) in the United States

There’s no romance in being a child bride. And whether the “groom” is R. Kelly, with his marriage to 15-year-old Aaliyah, your great-grandmother, or Justine (name changed for protection)—a minor married to a man twice her age in the state of Maryland—more often than not, these marriages are a form of child abuse … government-sanctioned child abuse, in some states.

Child marriage remains legal in well over half of all U.S. states, with over 300,000 minors married between 2000 and 2018. Every year, hundreds of children of every gender, ethnicity and religious background are married, with no regard for their consent. “Groom” might be the technical term in these marriages, but “grooming” is more accurate.

  • SaltySalamander
    -5•3 months ago

    10% drop in women murdered by their partners

    You emphasized this as if this were a bad thing.

    • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)English
      12•3 months ago

      Nope, highlighted to show why the right is pushing to end no-fault divorce, and divorce in general. They see women as objects that they are signing a contract for, and then own forever thereafter. They see them as property to do as they like with.

      So like abortion, they play the “family” card, but it’s about controlling women and their bodies. The family is just a side effect of the “wife” performing her “marital duty”.