SACRAMENTO - California has officially banned child marriage, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing legislation to end the practice that is still legal in 32 US states.

The new law, which will come into effect on 1 January, states people must be 18 to get married in the Golden State.

About a decade ago, the practice was still allowed across all US state but more and more states have been altering laws. California is the 18th to ban it since 2018.

In the state, there had been no legal age to wed, allowing children to get married as long as their parents consent and a judge signs off on the nuptials.

There was also no mechanism for people under 18 to get divorced and many girls say they were trapped in abusive and predatory relationships.

Unchained At Last, an advocacy group fighting to end child marriage across the US, said about 9,000 girls were wed each year in California and that almost all child marriages involved girls to adult men.

Advocates say that many in the US don't even know that child marriage is legal in so many US states, nor that is has led to allegations of abuse. (Source: BBC News)

Story Date: October 1, 2026