Here in the United States, we have the privilege of talking with young people about the changes their bodies experience during puberty, and their choices about when is the right time to have sex, marry and have children. For many girls throughout the world, there is no conversation. For many girls, the "right" time to have sex is when their parents marry them off to a much older man.
A bold move by Representative McCollum and Senators Durbin and Snowe provides the opportunity to change this reality. Legislation to prevent child marriage around the globe was just introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 2103) and U.S. Senate (S. 987) that will give parents another choice, and ultimately give the girls who are married too young a choice and a chance.
"It is deeply troubling that girls, little girls only nine or ten years old, are being given as child brides to men sometimes decades older, putting these girls at greater risk of contracting HIV, dying in childbirth, delivering under-weight babies or living in extreme poverty," said US Representative Betty McCollum (MN-4), in a media statement issued by more than 20 organizations in support of the legislation. "The U.S. invests billions of dollars to improve the lives of people in the poorest countries. Child marriage is a horrific human rights violation that undermines that investment."
The bills authorize U.S. foreign assistance funding over five years to prevent child marriage and provide educational and economic opportunities to girls in the developing world. The policy would help ensure that the fundamental human rights of girls are protected by:
- Promoting community understanding of the practice's harmful impact;
- Requiring the State Department to report on this harmful practice in its annual Human Rights Report; and
- Scaling up community-based efforts to offer viable alternatives to early marriage.
Child marriage is common in
many parts of the world, and if current patterns continue, during the
next 10 years more than 100 million girls will marry without any say
in the matter. Beyond being a fundamental human rights violation, early
and forced marriage increases girls' vulnerability to serious health
risks (such as HIV), social isolation and poverty.
It takes strong women and strong men to stand up for young girls. Congress now has the power to change the lives of millions of girls, to help parents see a different reality for their daughters, and to give these very young women back their future.
