America has a massive child marriage problem
In the US, nearly every state allows child marriage. In some states, loopholes even let child rapists avoid prosecution by marrying the person they raped. In others, parents can in effect force their children to marry.
Play video: America has a massive child marriage problemThe video loads from YouTube when you play it.
Child marriage is a global issue: one in five girls around the world is married as a child. But you might be surprised to learn that nearly 250,000 children were married in the US in the first ten years of this century.
In this episode of its "So What" explainer series, Channel 4 News looks at child marriage in the US, why it is legal, and what campaigners are doing to tackle what they see as child abuse.