Advocacy

Despite unanimous approval by the United States Senate, the House of Representatives on Dec. 16 blocked the "International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act" in a 241-166 vote. To pass, the bill needed to be endorsed by two-thirds of those present; it fell short by 31 votes.

“We came so far – and so close,” said Sarah Degnan Kambou, president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). “We will continue to educate members of Congress about the causes and consequences of child marriage, work with them to identify solutions and re-double our efforts to pass the bill next year."

Approved by the Senate on Dec. 1, the bill would have required the U.S. State Department to address child marriage in its annual human rights report. It also would have authorized the government to integrate prevention efforts into existing development programs.

However, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would cost approximately $67 million over five years to implement. 

“Despite the outcome, the bill garnered the support of 113 co-sponsors,” Kambou said, “and we believe many congressional members continue to care deeply about the issue of child marriage.” Among them were Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), who championed the effort in the House. "ICRW thanks them for their leadership," Kambou said.

A decade of ICRW research shows that child marriage results in a myriad of problems for girls and young women, such as a higher risk of domestic violence, HIV infection and maternal mortality. But research also shows that well-executed programs can increase the age of marriage for girls – throughout entire communities – in a relatively short period of time.

“We will continue to identify solutions to the issue of child marriage – including those that are best carried out by the U.S. government,” Kambou said.

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a unanimous vote on Sept. 21 sent the "International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act" to the full Senate for consideration, a move that represents significant momentum on the legislation.

The bill, which enjoys broad bipartisan support, is based in part on a decade of research by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). Its endorsement comes on the heels of a column by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Brazilian President Fernando H. Cardoso as well as the launch of a new child marriage initiative by The Elders, an independent group of world leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela. ICRW supports their effort.

Meanwhile, President Bill Clinton this week addressed the issue of child marriage during a video interview (see 3:27 mark) at the annual Clinton Global Initiative.

Sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the legislation aims to bolster the U.S. government’s role in curbing the harmful practice of forced child marriage. It also would require the U.S. State Department to report on child marriage in its annual human rights report and authorize the government to integrate prevention efforts into existing development programs.

“When enacted, this legislation will mark a turning point in how girls are valued,” ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou said. “The U.S. Congress will illustrate to the world that it recognizes the important role of girls in a society.”

ICRW is among several organizations that are advocating for the child marriage prevention bill, including CARE, the International Women’s Health Coalition and PLAN USA, among others.

“ICRW applauds lead sponsors Sens. Durbin and Snowe for championing the bill, and the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for making adolescent girls a priority of U.S. development efforts,” Kambou said.

Gillian Gaynair is ICRW’s writer/editor. Senior Advocacy Specialist Dan Martin contributed to this report.

The top United States diplomat on women’s issues recently visited the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office in New Delhi, India, to identify successful efforts that move societies to better value its girls. Such an approach is central to creating a more equitable, healthy world for girls and women, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer said.

She added that issues such as child marriage, feticide and violence against women are, at their root, about how girls are viewed by society. “How do we get the breakthrough,” Verveer said, “to bolster the value of the girl?”

The ambassador’s time in India was part of a week-long, multi-country September tour, in which she stopped at ICRW to learn more about its work on the ground, particularly efforts to change social norms that influence behaviors among adolescent girls and boys. ICRW senior staff and Ravi Verma, who directs the Asia Regional Office, spoke with Verveer about ICRW’s innovative programs that involve boys, such as the sports-based Parivartan program, and about potential solutions to delay marriage for young women.

During the two-hour visit, Verveer also learned more about how ICRW approaches its work. She said it’s one of the few organizations that measures and evaluates programs to ensure that they’re effective and sustainable, and praised ICRW’s collaboration with grassroots organizations, corporations and national governments.

The ambassador’s visit to India comes at a time when the U.S. and India have committed to partner in areas of common interest, such as technology and food security, as outlined in the ongoing U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue. ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou said she will stay in close touch with the Office on Global Women’s Issues to ensure that the needs of women and girls are integrated in all U.S. development efforts.

Roxanne Stachowski is ICRW’s external relations associate.

Melanne Verveer, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, visits staff in ICRW's Asia Regional Office in New Delhi, India.

Girls around the world continue to be undervalued, which helps fuel the practice of forced child marriage in many developing countries, the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Anju Malhotra told members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission during a July 15 hearing.

Read Malhotra's testimony (PDF) »

Malhotra, vice president of research, innovation and impact, asserted that solutions to the issue of forced child marriage must come from empowering girls. And research shows that ways to end the practice already exist, she said. They include strengthening girls’ educational opportunities, showing communities and families the value of educating girls, and empowering girls with life skills.

Now, Malhotra said, it’s necessary to “scale up the solutions.”

Malhotra addressed several legislators during the standing-room-only hearing, including Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and co-chairman of the commission, Rep. Jim McGovern, (D-Mass.). It was the third time in less than a year that an ICRW expert has been invited to testify before U.S. legislators.

Other panelists at the hearing also emphasized that efforts to end forced child marriage need to focus on the lives of young girls. Any strategy to do so “must be an effort to increase the value of the girl-child in her community,” said Melanne Verveer, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues. Verveer and others stressed that a key step to addressing forced child marriage is passing the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act.

By endorsing the legislation, Malhotra said the U.S. can support efforts to significantly reduce the rate of early marriages in the next few years. And with fewer child brides, foreign investments to, for instance, prevent HIV or reduce maternal mortality rates, are less likely to be undermined.

At the close of the testimonies, McGovern thanked panelists for a productive hearing.

“I end this hearing not in despair,” he said, “but with hope.”

Grace Lamb-Atkinson is a communications intern at ICRW.

Challenging traditional ideas about what it means to be a man can prevent violence against women worldwide, according to Gary Barker of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).

“Violence against women is a gross violation of human rights and a threat to a woman’s health and well-being,” Barker, ICRW’s director of gender, violence and rights, told the U.S. House of Representatives Human Rights Commission on April 15. “We must acknowledge that men’s use of violence against women is, in much of the world, rooted in women’s limited social and economic power.”

Barker’s testimony came two months after the U.S. Congress reintroduced the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). The legislation, in part, underscores the importance of working with men and using research evidence in efforts to curb violence worldwide.

Global research shows that one in three women faces physical or sexual violence at some point in her life. However, decades of analysis by ICRW proves there are solutions that can reverse this trend, including engaging men and boys as partners, rather than as perpetrators of violence.

In his testimony, Barker explained to the commission that ending violence against women requires more than a legal response. Instead, it demands complementary efforts that promote more equitable relationships between women and men and that address societal notions around manhood.

“We have to teach boys that being a man really means respecting women and accepting them as equals,” Barker said. “Research suggests that well-designed group education with boys and men, particularly when combined with community outreach and mass media and communication strategies, can help change men’s attitudes about violence against women.”

Gillian Gaynair is ICRW's writer/editor.