In many U.S. states, children can legally marry at an earlier age than they can consent to sex, leading to situations where sex between spouses may be a criminal act. Some states exempt sex between married spouses from their definition of statutory rape, which may create perverse incentives for child marriage, according to researchers from McGill University.

Their findings, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, show that child marriages violated statutory rape laws in 14 states.