For millennia in human history, at least in several cultures, the bride price was a tradition where a man paid his prospective wife's family in exchange for her hand. It is still practiced in several areas of Asia and Africa, for instance.
When the marriage partners of age, I don't see anything to be bothered about. But...
It doesn't work that well in America when the girl is underage, where we have laws about minors marrying and sex with minors. When it's a child under the age of consent, it's called human trafficking. So the following story has gotten some people into a lot of trouble.
Man accused of selling daughter for cash, beer: Police say father tried to get 14-year-old back after plan fell apart
The total sum was $16,000 plus 100 cases of beer and several cases of meat. I don't know how I would feel about being traded for beer and meat, but there you go. But the girl was only 14, too young to marry in California. The father is being charged with human trafficking and the 18-year-old groom was arrested for statutory rape.
It amazes me how boneheaded people are. There was no indication of ethnicity or whether this happened among immigrants or others from a culture that traditionally practices arranged marriage and bride price, but authorities say that these sorts of marriages have become a problem in the area.
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