[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2103 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2103
To protect girls in developing countries through the prevention of
child marriage, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 27, 2009
Ms. McCollum (for herself, Mrs. Capps, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida,
Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Oberstar, Ms. Lee of California, Mrs.
Maloney, Ms. Watson, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Honda, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Moore
of Kansas, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Moran of Virginia,
Mr. Ellison, Mr. Filner, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms.
DeLauro, Mr. Carnahan, Mr. Farr, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. McNerney, Ms.
Schakowsky, Mr. Walz, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Hastings of Florida, and Ms.
Moore of Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect girls in developing countries through the prevention of
child marriage, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``International Protecting Girls by
Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Child marriage, also known as ``forced marriage'' or
``early marriage'', is a harmful traditional practice that
deprives girls of their dignity and human rights.
(2) Child marriage as a traditional practice, as well as
through coercion or force, is a violation of article 16 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, ``Marriage
shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of
intending spouses.''.
(3) According to the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF), an estimated 60,000,000 girls in developing countries
now ages 20-24 were married under the age of 18, and if present
trends continue more than 100,000,000 more girls in developing
countries will be married as children over the next decade,
according to the Population Council.
(4) Child marriage ``treats young girls as property'' and
``poses grave risks not only to women's basic rights but also
their health, economic independence, education, and status in
society'', according to the Department of State in 2005.
(5) In 2005, the Department of State conducted a world-wide
survey and found child marriage to be a concern in 64 out of
182 countries surveyed, with child marriage most common in sub-
Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia.
(6) In Ethiopia's Amhara region, about half of all girls
are married by age 14 with 95 percent not knowing their
husbands before marriage, 85 percent unaware they were to be
married, and 70 percent reporting their first sexual initiation
within marriage taking place before their first menstrual
period, according to a 2004 Population Council survey.
(7) In some areas of northern Nigeria, 45 percent of girls
are married by age 15 and 73 percent by age 18, with age gaps
between girls and the husbands averaging between 12 and 18
years.
(8) Between half and three-quarters of all girls are
married before the age of 18 in the following countries: Niger,
Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea, the Central African Republic,
Mozambique, Burkina Faso, and Nepal, according to Demographic
Health Survey data.
(9) Factors perpetuating child marriage include poverty, a
lack of educational or employment opportunities for girls,
parental concerns to ensure sexual relations within marriage,
the dowry system, and the perceived lack of value of girls.
(10) Child marriage has negative effects on girls' health,
including significantly increased risk of maternal death and
morbidity, infant mortality and morbidity, obstetric fistula,
and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
(11) According to the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), increasing the age at first
birth for a woman will increase her chances of survival.
Currently, pregnancy and childbirth complications are the
leading cause of death for women 15 to 19 years old in
developing countries.
(12) In developing countries, girls 15 years of age are
five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their
20s.
(13) Child marriage can result in bonded labor or
enslavement, commercial sexual exploitation, and violence
against the victims, according to UNICEF.
(14) Out-of-school or unschooled girls are at greater risk
of child marriage while girls in school face pressure to
withdraw from school when secondary school requires monetary
costs, travel, or other social costs, including lack of
lavatories and supplies for menstruating girls and increased
risk of sexual violence.
(15) In Mozambique 60 percent of girls with no education
are married by age 18, compared to 10 percent of girls with
secondary schooling and less than 1 percent of girls with
higher education.
(16) According to UNICEF, in 2005 it was estimated that
``about half of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa who drop out of
primary school do so because of poor water and sanitation
facilities''.
(17) UNICEF reports that investments in improving school
sanitation resulted in a 17 percent increase in school
enrollment for girls in Guinea and an 11 percent increase for
girls in Bangladesh.
(18) Investments in girls' schooling, creating safe
community spaces for girls, and programs for skills building
for out-of-school girls are all effective and demonstrated
strategies for preventing child marriage and creating a pathway
to empower girls by addressing conditions of poverty, low
status, and norms that contribute to child marriage.
(19) Most countries with high rates of child marriage have
a legally established minimum age of marriage, yet child
marriage persists due to strong traditional norms and the
failure to enforce existing laws.
(20) In Afghanistan, where the legal age of marriage for
girls is 16 years, 57 percent of marriages involve girls below
the age of 16, including girls younger than 10 years, according
to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
(21) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated that
``child marriage is a clear and unacceptable violation of human
rights, and that the Department of State denounces all cases of
child marriage as child abuse''.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) child marriage is a violation of human rights and the
prevention and elimination of child marriage should be a
foreign policy goal of the United States;
(2) the practice of child marriage undermines United States
investments in foreign assistance to promote education and
skills building for girls, reduce maternal and child mortality,
reduce maternal illness, halt the transmission of HIV/AIDS,
prevent gender-based violence, and reduce poverty; and
(3) expanding educational opportunities for girls, economic
opportunities for women, and reducing maternal and child
mortality are critical to achieving the Millennium Development
Goals and the global health and development objectives of the
United States, including efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS.
SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO PREVENT THE INCIDENCE OF CHILDHOOD MARRIAGE IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
(a) Assistance Authorized.--The President is authorized to provide
assistance, including through multilateral, nongovernmental, and faith-
based organizations, to prevent the incidence of child marriage in
developing countries and to promote the educational, health, economic,
social, and legal empowerment of girls and women as part of the
strategy established pursuant to section 5 to prevent child marriage in
developing countries.
(b) Priority.--In providing assistance authorized under subsection
(a), the President shall give priority to--
(1) areas or regions in developing countries in which 15
percent of girls under the age of 15 are married or 40 percent
of girls under the age of 18 are married; and
(2) activities to--
(A) expand and replicate existing community-based
programs that are successful in preventing the
incidence of child marriage;
(B) establish pilot projects to prevent child
marriage; and
(C) share evaluations of successful programs,
program designs, experiences, and lessons.
(c) Coordination.--Assistance authorized under subsection (a) shall
be integrated with existing United States programs for advancing
appropriate age and grade-level basic and secondary education through
adolescence, ensure school enrollment and completion for girls, health,
income generation, agriculture development, legal rights, and democracy
building and human rights, including--
(1) support for community-based activities that encourage
community members to address beliefs or practices that promote
child marriage and to educate parents, community leaders,
religious leaders, and adolescents of the health risks
associated with child marriage and the benefits for
adolescents, especially girls, of access to education, health
care, livelihood skills, microfinance, and savings programs;
(2) enrolling girls in primary and secondary school at the
appropriate age and keeping them in age-appropriate grade
levels through adolescence;
(3) reducing education fees, and enhancing safe and
supportive conditions in primary and secondary schools to meet
the needs of girls, including--
(A) access to water and suitable hygiene
facilities, including separate lavatories and latrines
for girls;
(B) assignment of female teachers;
(C) safe routes to and from school; and
(D) eliminating sexual harassment and other forms
of violence and coercion;
(4) ensuring access to health care services and proper
nutrition for adolescent girls, which is essential to both
their school performance and their economic productivity;
(5) increasing training for adolescent girls and their
parents in financial literacy and access to economic
opportunities, including livelihood skills, savings,
microfinance, and small-enterprise development;
(6) supporting education, including through community and
faith-based organizations and youth programs, that helps remove
gender stereotypes and the bias against girls used to justify
child marriage, especially efforts targeted at men and boys,
promotes zero tolerance for violence, and promotes gender
equality, which in turn help to increase the perceived value of
girls;
(7) creating peer support and female mentoring networks and
safe social spaces specifically for girls; and
(8) supporting local advocacy work to provide legal
literacy programs at the community level and ensure that
governments and law enforcement officials are meeting their
obligations to prevent child and forced marriage.
SEC. 5. STRATEGY TO PREVENT CHILD MARRIAGE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
(a) Strategy Required.--The President, acting through the Secretary
of State, shall establish a multi-year strategy to prevent child
marriage in developing countries and promote the empowerment of girls
at risk of child marriage in developing countries, including by
addressing the unique needs, vulnerabilities, and potential of girls
under 18 in developing countries.
(b) Consultation.--In establishing the strategy required by
subsection (a), the President shall consult with Congress, relevant
Federal departments and agencies, multilateral organizations, and
representatives of civil society.
(c) Elements.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall--
(1) focus on areas in developing countries with high
prevalence of child marriage; and
(2) encompass diplomatic initiatives between the United
States and governments of developing countries, with attention
to human rights, legal reforms and the rule of law, and
programmatic initiatives in the areas of education, health,
income generation, changing social norms, human rights, and
democracy building.
(d) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to Congress a
report that includes--
(1) the strategy required by subsection (a);
(2) an assessment, including data disaggregated by age and
gender to the extent possible, of current United States-funded
efforts to specifically assist girls in developing countries;
and
(3) examples of best practices or programs to prevent child
marriage in developing countries that could be replicated.
SEC. 6. RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION.
The Secretary of State shall work through the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development and any other
relevant agencies of the Department of State, and in conjunction with
relevant executive branch agencies as part of their ongoing research
and data collection activities, to--
(1) collect and make available data on the incidence of
child marriage in countries that receive foreign or development
assistance from the United States where the practice of child
marriage is prevalent; and
(2) collect and make available data on the impact of the
incidence of child marriage and the age at marriage on progress
in meeting key development goals.
SEC. 7. DEPARTMENT OF STATE'S COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
PRACTICES.
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended--
(1) in section 116 (22 U.S.C. 2151n), by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(g) The report required by subsection (d) shall include for each
country in which child marriage is prevalent at rates at or above 40
percent in at least one sub-national region, a description of the
status of the practice of child marriage in such country. In this
subsection, the term `child marriage' means the marriage of a girl or
boy, not yet the minimum age for marriage stipulated in law in the
country in which such girl or boy is a resident.''; and
(2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(i) The report required by subsection (b) shall include for each
country in which child marriage is prevalent at rates at or above 40
percent in at least one sub-national region, a description of the
status of the practice of child marriage in such country. In this
subsection, the term `child marriage' means the marriage of a girl or
boy, not yet the minimum age for marriage stipulated in law in the
country in which such girl or boy is a resident.''.
SEC. 8. DEFINITION.
In this Act, the term ``child marriage'' means the marriage of a
girl or boy, not yet the minimum age for marriage stipulated in law in
the country in which the girl or boy is a resident.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
To carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act, there
are authorized to be appropriated as such sums as necessary for fiscal
years 2010 through 2014.
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