Bill > SB560

This bill aims to end child marriage in Hawaii by raising the minimum age to marry from sixteen to eighteen years old and removing provisions that previously allowed younger individuals to marry with parental or court consent. The legislation is based on growing national and international recognition that child marriage is a human rights violation that disproportionately affects girls and can lead to negative social and economic consequences. According to the bill's findings, between 2000 and 2014, over 207,000 children under 18 were married in the United States, with 80% of child marriages in Hawaii involving girls marrying adult men. The bill eliminates previous statutes that allowed marriage for individuals as young as fifteen with family court approval, removes parental consent requirements for minors to marry, and repeals sections related to emancipation through marriage. By aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals and following the lead of other states that have banned child marriage, the bill seeks to protect minors from potential coercion, trafficking, and other harmful marriage practices by ensuring that both parties to a marriage are at least eighteen years old.

Health and Social Services

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=560&year=2025