California bans child marriage, a practice still legal in 32 US states

Stodden said she would "keep fighting until children are protected from marriage in all 50 states". She was married to actor Doug Hutchison - known for roles in The Green Mile, A Time to Kill and I Am Sam - in 2011, spurring headlines internationally over the controversy and appearances on several reality programmes in the US, including the VH1 series Couples Therapy. Other survivors of child marriage also applauded the new law. "California has sent a clear message to the world today," Brittany Bee, a former child bride, told the BBC. "A message of hope for all children that they may be free from systemic violence. That they may choose their own path."Bee told the BBC she was wed at the age of 17 to escape an abusive home - only to then be allegedly abused by her adult husband. "I was just going from one prison to another," she explained. "People have the audacity to tell me that I made a choice - kids, they can't consent." Bee and other child marriage survivors have been working for years to have child marriages banned in California and across the United States. About a decade ago, the practice was still allowed across all US state but more and more states have been altering laws....