NEWS and events

ICRW's Saranga Jain Speaks to Seattle's Culture Talk

ICRW’s Saranga Jain, an expert on child marriage, was a guest March 27 on Seattle’s KKNW-AM 1150’s Culture Talk with Kevin P. Henry. Jain spoke about the child marriage epidemic around the globe and what is being done to address this harmful practice.

Culture Talk airs on the Alternative Talk and Afra Genesis networks.

Listen to the interview.

ICRW Meets with Girl Scouts to Discuss Child Marriage

ICRW's Saranga Jain recently met with a group of Girl Scouts in Springfield, Mass., to discuss their thoughts on child marriage after viewing the NOW on PBS documentary, Child Brides: Stolen Lives. The girls, ranging in ages from 14 to 18, shared concerns about the health and social consequences of marrying too young, and made connections between the lives of adolescent girls in developing countries and their own.

“I learned a lot from these girls,” says Jain, the lead researcher of the report, New Insights on Preventing Child Marriage. “So many of the aspirations and hopes for the future that these girls expressed are similar to those of girls in South Asia.” For example, Nepalese girls in an ICRW study reported aspirations of finishing secondary school, going to college, getting a job, falling in love and getting married, activities which they hoped would occur in their 20's. The reality for many girls in Nepal, however, is marriage and childbearing before they have reached adulthood. This often means an end to all other future hopes, including education and earning an income.

The Jan. 21 film showing with the Girl Scouts coincided with a screening in Long Island, N.Y. Afterward, experts at each location led a discussion about child marriage, followed by a live video-teleconference between the two sites.

International Violence Against Women Act

On Oct. 31, Senators Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced groundbreaking legislation to combat the global crisis of violence against women and girls.

The International Violence Against Women Act ( I-VAWA ) would, systematically integrate efforts to end gender-based violence into foreign assistance programs, applying the force of U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid totaling $1 billion over five years to prevent the abuse and exploitation that affects up to one in three women worldwide. 

ICRW is part of a broad coalition of groups supporting the legislation.   

Related Links:

Family Violence Prevention Fund

Women's Edge Coalition. 

Sen. Durbin Introduces Child Marriage Legislation

Bills Now Before Both Houses of Congress

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) quietly introduced a bill to reduce child marriage before the Senate adjourned for its August recess.

The bill, S. 1998, is similar to the one that Sens. Durbin and Hagel (R-Neb.) introduced in July 2006.

"This bill will help ensure that U.S. assistance supports and build on these efforts to help eradicate child marriage in our lifetimes as well as ensure greater success in other international development efforts," says ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta.

ICRW applauds Durbin for introducing this legislation and encourages the Senate to move quickly to pass it.

Read the text of the bill.

ACTION THROUGH ADVOCACY

Our advocacy agenda is driven by our evidence-based research on women and girls in the developing world. Currently, we are focusing on three policy areas:

Child Marriage | Gender and AIDS | Millennium Development Goals

Child Marriage

Child marriage is a harmful traditional practice that weds young people, almost exclusively girls to men who are usually significantly older than their new bride.

Legislation
What you can do.
Tools & Resources
Learn more about child marriage.

 

Gender and AIDS

Gender norms, including power inequalities, leave women more vulnerable to infection. A lack of property and inheritance rights, the acceptance of gender-based violence, and HIV - and AIDS - related stigma are just a few of the reasons women and girls are more vulnerable to HIV and AIDS.

Legislation
What you can do.
Tools & Resources
Learn more about Gender and AIDS.

 

Millennium Development Goals

In 2000, world leaders gathered and committed to eight concrete development goals, which are known as the Millennium Development Goals. The third goal is to promote gender equality and empower women, and ICRW works with the United Nations and the U.S. government to help us accomplish this goal.

Tools & Resources
Learn more.