USA Child Marriage: FL - 11yo mother pushed to marry her rapist

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11 Years Old, a Mom, and Pushed to Marry Her Rapist in Florida

When she was a scrawny 11-year-old, Sherry Johnson found out one day that she was about to be married to a 20-year-old member of her church who had raped her.

“It was forced on me,” she recalls. She had become pregnant, she says, and child welfare authorities were investigating — so her family and church officials decided the simplest way to avoid a messy criminal case was to organize a wedding.

“My mom asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said, ‘I don’t know, what is marriage, how do I act like a wife?’” Johnson remembers today, many years later. “She said, ‘Well, I guess you’re just going to get married.’”

So she was. A government clerk in Tampa, Fla., refused to marry an 11-year-old, even though this was legal in the state, so the wedding party went to nearby Pinellas County, where the clerk issued a marriage license. The license (which I’ve examined) lists her birth date, so officials were aware of her age.

[snip]

You’re thinking: “Child marriage? That’s what happens in Bangladesh or Tanzania, not America!”

In fact, more than 167,000 young people age 17 and under married in 38 states between 2000 and 2010, according to a search of available marriage license data by a group called Unchained at Last, which aims to ban child marriage. The search turned up cases of 12-year-old girls married in Alaska, Louisiana and South Carolina, while other states simply had categories of “14 and younger.”

[snip]

Johnson, the former 11-year-old unwitting bride who is now fighting for Florida to set a minimum marriage age (there is none now), says that her family attended a conservative Pentecostal church and that other girls of a similar age periodically also married. Often, she says, this was to hide rapes by church elders.

She says she was raped by both a minister and a parishioner and gave birth to a daughter when she was just 10 (the birth certificate confirms that). A judge approved the marriage to end the rape investigation, she says, telling her, “What we want is for you to get married.”

“It was a terrible life,” Johnson recalls, recounting her years as a child raising children. She missed school and remembers spending her days changing diapers, arguing with her husband and struggling to pay expenses. She ended up with pregnancy after pregnancy — nine children in all — while her husband periodically abandoned her.

[snip]

Let’s listen to ourselves. State legislators must understand that child marriage is devastating in Niger and Afghanistan — and also in New York and Florida. It’s past time to end child marriage right here at home.

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More...
 
Christie rejects ban on marriage for N.J. teens under 18

Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday rejected a bill that would have barred all teenagers from getting married in New Jersey before they turn 18, suggesting instead that lawmakers tighten the state's current marriage restrictions on minors.

Christie's move prevents New Jersey from becoming the first state in the U.S. to outright ban marriage before age 18, without exceptions.
 
N.H. House kills bill that would raise minimum marriage age to 18

It’s not often middle-schoolers get married in New Hampshire. But it’s still perfectly legal, after the Republican-led House killed a bill Thursday to raise the marriage age to 18.

The rejection leaves intact a state law that lets girls get married as young as age 13 with parental consent and sign-off from a judge. Boys a year older can marry with the same approvals.

Between 1995 and 2012, 323 girls and 46 boys under age 18 have been married, according to the state’s vital statistics.

The number of married minors has declined steadily since 1995, a year when 47 teens were wed.

Between 1995 and 2012, 323 girls under 18 were married in New Hampshire.

Between 1995 and 2012, 46 boys under 18 were married in New Hampshire.
 
They should absolutely ban ALL marriages under 15. But I think a 16 yr old, or a 17 yr old should be able to get married under some circumstances.

But UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should an 11 yr old be married. NOPE. none....
 
Good Lord!

Right? It's shocking!! I've been thinking about this ever since I read about the teacher in Tennessee researched marrying teenagers. I came across this article tonight and had to share. I know we all discussed it a lot in that thread.

Unbelievable anyone would think this is okay.
 
My gawwwwwwwd 😯😯

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk
 
An 11 year old is just finishing 5th grade, ready to go to middle school in the fall.

They are still children themselves with no idea what this world is about. Many have not started their periods and most are just beginning to wear bras.

For those unfortunate ones who have been raped by known associates or men of the church, it is so wrong to punish the girl by making her marry him. To me, that is broadcasting the wrong to the world. All to save the man in question without giving this innocent child a thought!
 
I'm glad you started this thread, because this hypocrisy has been a pet peeve of mine for a while: allowing children, mostly young girls, to be legally married to much older adults, usually men. It shouldn't be allowed, period. I have no issues with two seventeen or sixteen year old high school sweethearts getting married because she gets pregnant, though it really isn't necessary in this day and age.
What I want is to ban pedophilia disguised as a marriage, under the ruse of religious freedom. It's ridiculous that on any given day in certain states, a judge in one court room will be sanctioning a union between a fifteen year old girl and a fifty five year old man, while in another, a different judge will be sentencing a man the same age as the groom for raping a girl the same age as the bride, even if she consented. If she has consented, it's null because of her age and the perp is accused of grooming.
Both acts are morally reprehensible. Neither girl is old enough to legally give consent, yet one guy goes to prison, and the other guy gets away with it, all because a piece of paper exonerates the pedophile groom from any wrong doing. The only differences I see is, is instead of the perp doing the grooming, it's the parents and their church. How in the world can we justify child marriages and think at the same time we're giving child sexual assault victims justice?
 
As for the hypocrisy, this is how I found the article:

[video=twitter;868799046433079297]https://twitter.com/aral/status/868799046433079297[/video]

11-year-old mom forced to marry her rapist by Sharia court in Afghanistan—sorry, I mean Christian church in Florida
 
So..... I agree with everyone after I calmed town.... but the first reaction I had was WTF is wrong with the parents that they would cover for some creep that raped THEIR DAUGHTER.!!!!! And a judge too? WOW! It makes me sick! I'm really mad.
 
As for the hypocrisy, this is how I found the article:

[video=twitter;868799046433079297]https://twitter.com/aral/status/868799046433079297[/video]

11-year-old mom forced to marry her rapist by Sharia court in Afghanistan—sorry, I mean Christian church in Florida

The hypocrisy I was referring to was the picking and choosing who gets punished for pedophilia, and who doesn't.
By allowing exceptions, we undermine and diminish child sexual abuse by saying it's okay in certain situaions, when it isn't. I don't see how we can justify rewarding some and punishing others, for the same heinous act. In no way was I singling out a particular religion. It doesn't matter which ones allow it, it's wrong.
 
They should ban marriage for anyone under the age of 30... everywhere!

I am only half joking ...:crazy:
 

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