Legalized crime: a former Mormon woman criticizes American laws allowing early marriages

A Mormon church parishioner was married at the age of 16 to a 25-year-old man. Now she is protesting against the laws in some states, where it is still allowed to marry girls from the age of 12. Having given birth to three children in union with an unloved spouse, Shevon constantly suffered from depression, but still managed to leave her husband and leave the religious community. Now she works as a psychologist and helps women in similar situations. Read on the story of a former Mormon woman who lost her youth in an early marriage.Shavaun Scott is now 61 years old. At the age of 13, she became a devoted member of the Mormon community, where she was persuaded to get married very young. The girl met her future husband at a local church in California in 1977. Young people were able to get married thanks to a loophole in the law allowing children to marry with the consent of their parents and having a corresponding court order.

In her youth, Shevon was a devoted member of the Mormon church. This filled the emotional void in the soul and the need for attention that was not received from parents. In the community, the girl was taught that a woman should submit to a man through whom God himself acts. She was sure that the sooner she got a family, the better.

Despite the fact that 42 years have passed since that time, child marriages are still being concluded in 48 states. Only in Delaware and New Jersey, those who have reached the age of 18 can legalize relationships. In some states, there is no age threshold for marriage at all. Thus, some criminals manage to avoid responsibility for sex and violence against minors by legitimizing relationships with them.In the church of which Shevon was a parishioner, early marriages were not uncommon. Sex before the wedding was considered taboo, so the girls tried to get married as soon as possible. The parents were not thrilled with the decision of their 16-year-old daughter to start a family, but they also did not want her to get pregnant out of wedlock (at the time of the wedding, the girl was already expecting a child). There was no point in going to college, and any non-Christian education was considered reprehensible.

On the wedding day, the girl felt excitement and was very nervous, feeling that she had made the wrong decision. Unfortunately, married life did not bring her the expected happiness. Her husband, her eldest by 10 years, treated his wife like a father, making all decisions alone. Shevon's wishes were not taken into account.

When she turned 19, she began to doubt religion and think about how she would like to live. The girl began to express her opinion to her husband, stopped constantly agreeing with him, and this really infuriated him. Once he even cut the telephone wire when his wife was talking to a friend.

Shevon gave birth to her first son when she was only 16. It was morally difficult for the girl to cope with the role of a mother. The birth was difficult, and the young mother became depressed. She felt trapped all the time, and after the birth of her third child, she began to have suicidal thoughts. From that moment on, the woman decided to seek help and left the Mormon community.

In 1986, Shevon divorced her husband. She graduated from the Faculty of Psychology and now works as a therapist. It took her another 10 years to recover. The woman was haunted by guilt for a long time, especially after visiting a Christian psychologist who convinced her that she had ruined her ex-husband's life.The American woman was silent about her past for a long time, but she could not keep it inside. She started writing and talking about her life publicly so that girls wouldn't allow themselves to be used. An early marriage can ruin your whole life, especially if your spouse turns out to be a violent rapist. The law should protect the rights of children, not ruin their future.

Strict laws in Mormon communities in the conditions of modern society are not maintained by all girls. Eddie Andrews was also a devoted parishioner of the church, but when she grew up, she went all out and became a porn actress.