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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A new Newsweek map shows where child marriage remains legal in the United States, after Oklahoma recently became the 17th state to ban it.
The Oklahoma Legislature in May approved a bill that raises the minimum age for marriage to 18 with no exceptions, and it was signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt. It will go into effect on November 1.
"This bill becoming law represents the culmination of significant effort on an issue that has been deeply important to me personally, as well as to many others who have worked tirelessly to see it through," State Senator Warren Hamilton, a Republican who authored the bill, said in a statement at the time.
"Enacting these provisions is critical as it directly impacts hundreds of children—most of them young girls—whose protections under the law are now strengthened."
He added the bill "strengthens the dignity of marriage, acknowledging the self-evident truth that a person should reach the age of majority, legally an adult, before they’re allowed to enter into a lifetime covenant."
State law currently allows minors to be married if they have the consent of a parent or guardian, and children aged 16 or under can be married with the authorization of a court.
Oklahoma's ban comes after Maine, Oregon and Missouri banned child marriage in 2025.
Where Does Child Marriage Remain Legal?
Child marriage remains legal in 33 states, including a handful where there is no minimum age to marry, according to Unchained At Last.
The organization says nearly 315,000 children as young as 10 were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2021, mostly girls married to adult men.
Which States Have Banned Child Marriage?
The U.S. states that have banned child marriage are:
Washington
Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virgini
Why It Matters
Before 2018, child marriage was legal in all 50 states. But since then, 17 states have ended it by raising the legal age of marriage to 18, according to Unchained at Last, an organization working to end child marriage in the United States.
Child marriage is defined as a marriage where at least one of the parties is under 18, which the United Nations calls a human rights violation and a form of forced marriage since at least one or both parties have not given their full, free and informed consent.
Advocates have previously told Newsweek how child marriage leaves minors open to abuse and vulnerable since they have limited legal rights, and they have also warned that the patchwork of state laws in the U.S. makes it easy for minors to be transported to be married in states where child marriage remains legal.
The Fight To End Child Marriage Continues
Advocates have warned that child marriage will continue until every state raises the age to marry to 18.
Newsweek has previously reported on how minors have long been taken across state lines to be wed in states where child marriage laws are more lax.
"When one state ends child marriage, often you'll see in a neighboring state that still allows it, or even a few states over, you'll see those numbers increase," Fraidy Reiss, the founder and executive director of Unchained At Last, previously told Newsweek.
"You have to pass simple, common-sense legislation that costs nothing, harms no one, to end a human rights abuse that destroys girls' lives and creates a nightmarish legal trap for minors."
What Happens Next
Several other states are considering bills to ban child marriage. Bills that would raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 are currently pending in Arizona, Ohio and North Carolina and Arizona, according to Unchained at Last’s legislation tracker.
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