96% of children getting married were 16 or 17, and 85% of the adults marrying those children were 18-23. Not quite the horror show that campaigners push.

I agree that no one under 18 should be getting married, I just question their tactics.

> There was also no mechanism for people under 18 to get divorced and many girls say they were trapped in abusive and predatory relationships.

Call me misguided, but I don't necessarily see 16 year old and 20 year getting married as equally problematic as the provided examples of 30+ year age gaps.

I think the real issue people are dancing around right now culturally is that these extreme age gap relationships are beginning to make everyone feel very uncomfortable. The difference between a 17 year old and and 18 year old doesn't make them feel less gross and exploitative.

In England and Wales, since 2022, the minimum age is 18. Previously it was 16 with parental consent, which is the situation in (the rather more religious) Northern Ireland.

In Scotland the age is 16 and parental consent is not required.

So, well into the 20th century young English couples would flee across the border and get married there; most famously at Gretna Green, a town just inside the border.

Scottish marriages involving English/Welsh people under 18 are now not legal.

In some societies it's okay to marry 6-year-old girls.

Slightly more rational societies link it to puberty in the female. Indeed, their leaders have written entire books to justify such behaviour.