By Rosemary Lewallen
St. Irenaeus Bridge of Light Ministry manned the Stop Human Trafficking booth on September 26th at the Cypress Community Festival. Festival attendees were encouraged to contact Governor Newsom and ask him to sign AB 1267 to “End Child Marriage Under 18 No Exceptions.”
Significant progress has been made over the past two years toward this goal. In 2025 and 2026, signatures were collected on a petition to ask the Cypress City Council to pass a resolution affirming that the City of Cypress is committed to ending child marriage in California. The Cypress City Council responded by passing Resolution Number 7043 and sent it to Sacramento. Assembly member Gail Pellerin (Santa Cruz) authored AB 1267.
It passed with no votes in opposition. We are thrilled to report that on September 30, the Governor signed AB 1267 into law, ensuring that children under the age of 18 can no longer marry in California, no exceptions. This law takes effect January 1, 2027.
Bridge of Light Ministry, with the guidance of Rima Nashashibi, founder of Global Hope 365, has worked on this issue with our Cypress City Council since 2022. The turning point was inviting the entire City Council to the St. Irenaeus Solidarity Walk and Prayer Vigil to Honor Human Trafficking Victims & Survivors in February of this year. We presented a prayer station on Ending Child Marriage Under 18 – No Exceptions. Council Members received baseline information and the chance to sign the petition to show their support.
Passing AB 1267 is important for many reasons. For example, if married minors want to leave a marriage, they are faced with many obstacles:
- If they leave, they’re typically considered runaways and sent back home.
- Domestic Violence shelters typically don’t accept unaccompanied minors.
- Children aren’t old enough to hire an attorney.
- As minors, they’re not allowed to initiate legal proceedings, such as protective orders or filing for divorce, unless represented by a guardian or other representative.
Additional reasons that this bill is necessary are stated in this excerpt from Cypress City Council Resolution No. 7043: - “Child marriage, a formal marriage or informal union where one or both parties are under the age of 18, is defined as a human rights abuse by the Department of State, UNICEF and Human Rights Watch.
- The American Medical Association has called for an end to Child Marriage stating, ‘Child marriage is associated with higher rates of sexually transmitted infections, early pregnancies, divorce, and intimate partner violence than women married at age 21.’
- The detrimental effects of Child Marriage are many, including but not limited to, an adverse effect on the child’s health, education, and employment opportunities, as proven by UN Women and the World Bank.
- Minors in unwanted or abusive marriages suffer social isolation from their support networks like school, friends, and family, which contributes to their poor mental health.
- Young women and girls ages 16-19 face intimate partner violence victimization rates almost three times the national average.
- Minors who marry early are more likely to ‘discontinue their formal educations prematurely, earn low wages, and live in poverty.’ Girls who marry early are fifty percent more likely to drop out of high school and four times less likely to graduate from college.”
- Bridge of Light: Human Trafficking to Human Triumph Ministry brings hope to victims and survivors. They strive to raise awareness and prevent human trafficking. They will actively be
working to ban child marriage in the remaining 32 states to ensure that it is banned at the federal
level as well. If you want more information or are interested in joining this ministry, please contact Monica Kovach, Ministry Chair, at 310-490-6113.