I am currently watching "I Was a Child Bride: The Untold Story" on Hulu. Content warning: child marriage, incest, sexual assault
I am struck again and again by the role the court plays in creating the conditions for the rape and entrapment of children.
Marriage is a built-in "loophole" to statutory rape laws. Pregnant children are getting married with legal witnesses in courthouses and having the documents with their ages notarized by stage employees. Parents are signing marriage documents on behalf of their children.
Yet the same law is keeping these children from divorcing, because they are legally too young. They are being turned away from shelters because of "liability." Then they are bound for life to their abuser through their children.
Every single step of the system is designed to maintain the existing balance of power against children, girls, and women. The pieces interlock in such a way that for me, there can be no belief that it was ever intended to operate any other way.