Under current laws 16 and 17 years need parental consent to marry but anyone under that age can marry with consent from a judge. "There was no focus on education, in fact, it was suspect unless it was Christain education because we weren't supposed to think and that was the way the devil would get in your thoughts. 42 years on and not much has changed in the way legislation with 48 states still allowing child marriages to take place and only Delaware and New Jersey enforcing the consent age as strictly 18. Cartel kingpin arrested over massacre of nine mothers and children from Mormon family on the way to a wedding in Mexico . Being a therapist, I know this is not good for women, in terms of development, I would like to see 18 at the minimum age before anyone can marry. Shavaun describes the mix of excitement and nerves she felt on her wedding day despite her parent's concerns but it wasn't long before married life started to change for the mom-of-three. But making love is an important part of married life. "That is institutionalized child abuse. "I don't think my parents were fond of the idea of marrying him but felt that they needed to go along with it. Before marriage it's this bad thing, this negative thing, this thing you avoid. In 1994, it was alleged that the now-disgraced RnB singer R.Kelly married his 15-year-old protege Aaliyah in the state Illinois. Stats show that between 2000 and 2015 at least 207,459 minors were married across the US although some claim that stats are unrealistic due to certain states not releasing numbers. In Mormon groups that accept underage marriages, marriage licenses are easy to obtain. Child Brides - Mormon - Polygamy. Polygamy (called plural marriage by Mormons in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890 by between 20 and 30 percent of Latter-day Saint families. One of the most offensive aspects of Mormon-based polygamy is the rampant practice of taking underage girls as polygamous wives. Marriage is a legal contract and it should be reserved for adults. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. God has a perfect plan in place for imperfect people. "They taught us that the woman submits and follows the man as the leader, and god worked through the husband. Laws vary across the US but in states such as Massachusettes, who do not specify a minimum age for marriage, minors under the age 18 can wed with the consent of a judge and both parents. "I felt a lot of inner shame because although I knew getting out of it had been the right thing, I still felt that I had sinned and I was a bad person. Log in, encouraged to marry young by religious leaders, bringing their marriage license with them to the temple. Now working as a therapist, she said: "I felt elated after the divorce and had a sense of control over my life. Mormon marriage is intended to be eternal, conditioned upon the kept covenants of each participating spouse. "People carry the trauma for the rest of their lives. The children of such marriages could only be baptized once they turned 18, and to do so they needed to move out of the household and disavow same-sex cohabitation and marriage. "I needed to come clean with this and started writing and talking about it openly. View our online Press Pack. The fine print is what people don't understand. News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. A woman who was 'brainwashed' into marrying her 25-year-old partner at just 16-years-old by a fundamentalist church, has slammed legislation which STILL allows children as young as 12 to wed. Shavaun Scott, now 61, became devoted to her religion at the age of just 13 and was encouraged to marry young through her local Mormon church's strict and extreme teachings. Members of the LDS Church may recall bringing their marriage license with them to the temple in order to make their eternal sealing a recognized marriage in the eyes of the law. This means that statutory rape laws can be overridden and in many states, adults can legally have sex with young children if they are married. I was done with it.". Current and former members of the Mormon Church are calling for an end to the practice of asking children as young as eight intimate and sexual questions during annual interviews by church officials. ", I'm A Celeb viewers shocked as Giovanna reveals McFly hit is about her, I'm A Celeb star Bev Callard's ex-best pal urges her to return £100,000, NYE pub trips banned for millions as Brits told they MUST follow Tier rules, Tom Fletcher risks upsetting I'm A Celeb's Giovanna by breaking promise, Corrie's Faye Windass sexually assaulted by Ray as a furious Gary catches him, ©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No.