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Resolution No. 2022-XXX Page 1 of 2 RESOLUTION 2022-XXX A RESOLUTION OF THE SANTA ANA CITY COUNCIL CALLING UPON OUR STATE LEGISLATORS TO INTRODUCE AND PASS A BILL ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE IN CALIFORNIA WHEREAS, California is one of nine states that has no minimum age for child marriage when all exemptions are taken into account; and WHEREAS, current California law requires the parents and partners of minors wishing to marry to meet with court officials separately, to determine if there is any coercion and wait 30 days to get married, unless they are 17 and have completed high school, or one of the partners is pregnant; and WHEREAS, recent efforts to change California law with Senate Bill No. 273 and Assembly Bill No. 1286 failed; and WHEREAS, existing law requires local registrar of marriages to submit personal information regarding certificates to the State Registrar, at least annually, but authorizes the local registrar to dispose of information like number of certificates, age of each party, and gender of each party after only two years; and WHEREAS, child marriage has negative physical, economic, social, and mental impacts on children, especially girls; and WHEREAS, teen girls who marry tend to have more children earlier, more closely spaced, more likely to have their first child before the age of 18 , and 40 percent more likely to have a second within two years of their first; and WHEREAS, young women and girls aged 16 to 19 face intimate partner violence victimization rates at almost three times the national level; and WHEREAS, women who marry before the age of 18 are more likely to report stressful life events, present significantly more psychiatric disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders , including major depression and antisocial personality disorder. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Santa Ana, that: Section 1. The City of Santa Ana calls upon our State legislators to introduce and pass a bill that would end child marriage in California. Section 2. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the City Council, and the Clerk of Council shall attest to and certify the vote adopting this Resolution.