California's state legislature passed two bills this week that close long-standing legal loopholes by establishing an absolute ban on child marriage and enabling victims of forced marriage to secure civil restraining orders.
Assembly Bill 1267 institutes a ban on child marriage by repealing "the authorization for a person under 18 years of age to be issued a marriage license or to establish a domestic partnership."
AB 2534 empowers individuals to protect themselves against forced marriage by incorporating it into the state's Domestic Violence Prevention Act, allowing victims to secure civil restraining orders against anyone who coerces, facilitates, or arranges an unwanted union.
The two bills are yet to be signed into law, as they await Governor Gavin Newsom's signature. If confirmed, the legislation will take effect on January 1, 2027.
According to the nonprofit legal advocacy organization, Tahiri Justice Center, AB 1267 will make California the 18th state in the nation to completely ban child marriage. AB 2534 will create the first forced marriage protection order in the country.
Child marriage currently legal in California, with consent of a guardian
According to Bill 1267, which amends and repeals sections of California's Family Code and Health and Safety Code, "Existing law authorizes an unmarried person who is under 18 years of age to marry upon obtaining a court order granting permission and the written consent of at least one of the parents or the guardian of each underage party to the marriage, as specified."
According to the text of Bill 2534 forced marriage is defined as "a spousal relationship in which one or both parties do not or cannot consent and one or both parties are compelled, through force, fraud, coercion, duress, abuse of power, or coercive control, to enter, attempt to enter, or maintain, a marriage, regardless of whether the marriage is legally valid."
It legislates that "If a protective order is sought to protect against a forced marriage, the bill would authorize all persons engaged in conduct to arrange, officiate, finance, or facilitate a forced marriage or attempted forced marriage to be included in one action as respondents," and authorizes a court to "grant relief regardless of whether a marriage has occured or whether a purported marriage would be legally valid in this state or any other jurisdiciton."
Survivor: 'I know what it feels like to have your choices taken from you'
According to the Tahiri Justice Center, Sara Tasneem, a survivor of an abusive child marriage and advocate for ending the practice, said, “The passage of AB 1267 is a huge win for all of us - survivors, advocates, and allies - who have been fighting to end child marriage in California for nearly a decade. The new law will set the legal age of marriage at 18, without exceptions, protecting future children from the severe harms of child marriage and bringing California one step closer to ending the practice.”
Sadia Khan, another survivor of forced marriage and an advocate against the practice, said in response to the bills' passing in the legislature, “As a survivor, I know what it feels like to have your choices taken from you, to believe no one can stop what’s happening, and to discover that the law doesn’t have a clear answer for your situation.
"As a domestic violence policy advocate, I’ve learned that our greatest responsibility is not simply responding to abuse after it occurs; it is preventing it from happening in the first place. Nothing can give me back the years I lost. But now, California is making sure no one else is forced to lose theirs.”