- Joined
- Dec 26, 2013
- Messages
- 17,787
- Trophies
- 3
- Location
- The Lands Between
- Website
- gbatemp.net
- XP
- 8,691
- Country
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64703519
https://www.newsweek.com/wyoming-ending-child-marriage-sparks-republican-outrage-1780501
Kind of shocking that the age of consent has remained so low for so long, but better to fix it late than never I suppose. Meanwhile in hillbilly news...BBC said:A panel of the Japanese Justice Ministry has proposed raising the age of consent from 13 to 16. It forms part of a wider overhaul of Japan's laws on sex crimes, after multiple rape acquittals in 2019 caused outcry. The proposal also aims to criminalise the grooming of minors and expand the definition of rape. The statute of limitations for reporting rape will also be increased to 15 from 10 years. Currently, Japan has the lowest age of consent in developed countries, and the lowest in the G7 group. In Germany and Italy the age is 14, in Greece and France it is 15 and in the UK and many US states it is 16.
https://www.newsweek.com/wyoming-ending-child-marriage-sparks-republican-outrage-1780501
Having traveled through the state a few times when necessary, this I can't say I'm surprised about. Dick Cheney basically owns Wyoming, and child marriage is one of those long-outdated traditions that only religious nuts and 1800s-style regressives would fight to keep around. Despite this, pro-child marriage representatives within the Republican party continue to enjoy widespread support among their voter base. Something to keep in mind as the right-wing continues to ramp up its virtue signalling in regard to the safety and well-being of minors.Newsweek said:The Wyoming Republican Party is seeking to kill a bill working its way through the state Legislature proposing to raise the state's legal marriage age to 16, arguing that putting "arbitrary" limits on child marriage interferes with parental rights and religious liberty. The debate has been a longstanding one in Wyoming.
Currently, Wyoming is one of just eight states in the country—including California, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Washington and West Virginia—without a minimum age requirement for marriage, and it currently ranks among the top ten states in the country for child marriages, according to a 2021 study by advocacy group Unchained at Last. Efforts to raise the age of marriage in the state have consistently stalled. For years, now-retired Laramie Democratic Representative Charles Pelkey sponsored legislation to raise the age of marriage to 18, only to fail with every effort.
Other states, like Tennessee, have actually sought to go in the opposite direction, with Republicans there seeking last year to eliminate any limits on marriage entirely until public outrage forced them to reverse course.