June 21, 2017 / 11:58 AM EDT
/ CBS/AP
ALBANY, N.Y. --Â New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday signed legislation putting an end to child marriage in the Empire State.
The legislation raises the age of consent from 14 to 18, and amends the process to require parental and judicial consent
for marriage involving 17- and 18-year-olds, CBS New York reports.
"This is a major step forward in our efforts to protect children and prevent forced marriages, and I am proud to sign this legislation that puts an end to child marriage in New York once and for all," Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a news release.
According to a 2016 report from the Tahirih Justice Center, a nonprofit that protects immigrant women and girls, and the National Conference of State Legislatures, North Carolina and Alaska also allow 14-year-olds to marry with parental and judicial consent.
Twenty-seven states have no minimum age for marriage in state law, meaning children of any age could technically marry with [...]
What is ChildBride? Child marriage is a formal marriage or informal union entered into by an individual before reaching a certain age. This is specified by several global organizations such as UNICEF as minors under the age of 18. The legally prescribed marriageable age in some jurisdictions is below 18 years
especially in the case of girls; and even when the age is set at 18 years, many jurisdictions permit earlier marriage with parental consent or in special circumstances, such as teenage pregnancy. In certain countries, even when the legal marriage age is 18, cultural traditions take priority over legislative law. Child marriage violates the rights of children; it affects both boys and girls, but it is more common among girls.
DISCLAIMER
All news articles are shared for educational purposes only. The news content is hosted on the external news website. News articles titles are derived from the original news title, news content, dialogue, speech or general content theme. The news title may be edited and optimized for SEO, keyword density, information and internal website search purposes. You are advised to view the original news article for a better understanding. If you spot any mistakes, errors or omissions kindly contact us.