Child Marriage is horrible and needs to be stopped. Child Marriage is very rampant in USA and NGOs need to concentrate their works there. See This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4pBfWYbJYY
In Islam, All Sunni/Shia schools of thought agree that forced marriages are strictly forbidden in Islam, as Islamic marriages are contracts between two consenting parties referred to as mithaq. A hadith (Oral Narrations, Activities of Prophet Mohamed) attributed to Muhammad states that a woman cannot be given to a man in marriage without consulting her first, and her consent is obtained either by her agreeing to the marriage or by her remaining silent.
In addition, Muhammad gave women the power to annul their marriages if it was found that they had been married against their consent.
"When a man gives his daughter in marriage and she dislikes it, the marriage shall be annulled." Once a virgin girl came to the Prophet and said that her father had married her to a man against her wishes. The Prophet gave her the right to repudiate the marriage.
In Islam, marriage is essentially a contract. However, the distinction between sacred and secular was never explicit in Islam, so it is not only a secular contract.
For a valid marriage, the following conditions must be satisfied, according to the major Islamic schools of jurisprudence:
There must be a clear proposal.
There must be a clear acceptance, but silence is taken as acceptance as well.
In Islam, there must be at least two competent witnesses. This is necessary to exclude illicit sex and to safeguard legitimacy of progeny. It is recommended that marriage should be widely publicized.
There must be a marriage gift, little or more, by the bridegroom to the bride. In other Countries, It is even Culture If you look at these Child Marriages in Ethiopia, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYk37j9g300
The Islamic Maliki school of thought gives the right of ijbar to the guardian. Ijbar is defined as the annulment of marriage due to objection by male guardian. According to Malik ibn Anas, children due to their immaturity may choose an unsuitable partner for themselves, hence, the power of ijbar has been given to the guardian so that he may overrule the child to marry someone he thinks is unsuitable for her. This is the legal right given to the guardian for girls by Maliki school of thought.
In addition, Islam requires that parents be followed in almost every circumstances, hence parents may ask their children to divorce a certain person, but this cannot be upheld in an Islamic court of law and is not a legal right of the parent.
In Islamic legal terminology, Baligh refers to a person who has reached maturity, puberty or adulthood and has full responsibility under Islamic law. Legal theorists assign different ages and criteria for reaching this state for both males and females.
In marriage baligh is related to the Arabic legal expression, hatta tutiqa'l-rijal, which means that the wedding may not take place until the girl is physically fit to engage in sexual intercourse. Some Hanafi scholars hold the opinion that sexual intercourse may take place before puberty, as long as it's not injurious to one's health.
In comparison, baligh or balaghat concerns the reaching of sexual maturity which becomes manifest by the menses. The age related to these two concepts can, but need not necessarily, coincide. Only after a separate condition called rushd, or intellectual maturity to handle one's own property, is reached can a girl receive her bridewealth
But still in USA, Child marriage has been documented but not shown properly in media. It is treated as if it is something in other cultures.
