Child Marriage

U.S. Senate Passes Child Marriage Legislation

Submitted by Girls Not Brides on Friday, May 25, 2012

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Child Marriage

Why does it matter?

The United States Senate has passed the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (S.414). Girls Not Brides explores why this is important and what impact it could have on the millions of girls affected by child marriage.

Yesterday, 24 May 2012, the United States Senate passed the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (S.414). The bill was passed unanimously by voice vote, demonstrating strong bipartisan support for an end to child marriage, a practice that denies 10 million girls a year their rights to health, education and security.

United States Senate Passes Legislation to Prevent Child Marriage

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Girls Not Brides Coalition Applauds Action

Fri, 05/25/2012

Twenty leading non-governmental organizations today commended the United States Senate for passing the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act. This is a critical step in upholding the rights of adolescent girls around the world, and in shielding them from the harmful practice of child marriage, which often has devastating consequences for girls, their families and their communities.

Under the leadership of Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), tireless
champions and lead sponsors of the bill, the Senate passed the bipartisan legislation yesterday
evening by a voice vote.

The legislation recognizes the practice of child marriage as a human rights violation, requires
the development of a multi-year strategy to address child marriage and integrates successful
interventions to prevent child marriage into existing U.S. development programs. The Senate’s
passage sends a strong message on the importance of prioritizing child marriage prevention as a
top U.S. international development priority. The Administration has the authority to implement
key provisions of the legislation and should do so immediately to support efforts to end child
marriage.

“Tens of millions of women and girls around the world have lost their dignity, freedom, and
health due to forced child marriage,” Senator Durbin said. “Not only does this despicable
practice deny these women and girls an education and economic independence, it is also the
root cause of many of the world’s most pressing development issues - HIV/AIDS, child mortality,
and abject poverty. This bill makes it U.S. government policy to end child marriage around the
globe, a policy which will change the lives of millions in some of the world’s forgotten places. I'm
pleased that the Senate has passed this important bill and I urge the House to quickly follow
suit.”

The latest data show that more than 60 million girls and young women – some as young as 10 –
in developing countries were married before the age of 18. If current patterns continue, 100
million more girls in the developing world will be married over the next 10 years. The costs of
child marriage are high, not only for the girls themselves, but also for communities and societies
as a whole.

Because their bodies are not fully developed, child brides are at a very high risk of facing
complications in pregnancy and childbirth – childbirth is the leading cause of death for girls ages
15-19. Young brides are more likely to experience gender-based violence, to drop out of school
and to contract sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

“I am grateful the Senate recognized the critical impact this legislation will have on the
estimated 100 million girls in developing countries who are at risk of being married as children
over the next decade,” said Senator Snowe. “The harmful practice of forced child marriage –
which is often at the root of and exacerbates many of the problems the international
community is working to prevent - has deprived vulnerable girls in developing countries of their
human rights; denied girls of certain education and employment opportunities; significantly
expanded the risk of maternal and infant death; and increased the spread of sexually
transmitted diseases like HIV and AIDS. This legislation will help maximize U.S. investment in
foreign assistance programs and it is absolutely vital that this bill be approved by the House of
Representatives and go to the President’s desk at the earliest date possible.”

Media Contact:

Jennifer Abrahamson, (202) 742-1250

Mission Statement:

About the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
ICRW's mission is to empower women, advance gender equality and fight poverty in the developing world. To accomplish this, ICRW works with partners to conduct empirical research, build capacity and advocate for evidence-based, practical ways to change policies and programs.

About Girls Not Brides
Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of over 100 organisations working to end child marriage all over the world. Together, we aim to give a voice to girls at risk of child marriage, to defend their rights to health and education, and to give them the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential. ICRW is a member of Girls Not Brides. For more information, www.girlsnotbrides.org.

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Melka's Story

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Meet Melka, a 20-year-old Ethiopian woman who was married off by her parents at age 14. Now Melka shares her story and teaches young girls about their rights in an effort to prevent the perpetuation of child marriage in her community. This video is courtesy of ICRW's partner, 10x10.

Is There Ever a Good Reason for Child Marriage?

in

Mon, 05/07/2012

Slate

Along with other members of the Girls Not Brides advocacy group, ICRW's Ann Warner argues in an opinion piece for Slate that child marriage is never a good option for girls.

A Poignant Reminder

Submitted by Jeffrey Edmeades on Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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A researcher is reminded that in the end, it’s about the people

A guessing game between ICRW researcher Jeffrey Edmeades and young married girls in Ethiopia’s Amhara region highlights how child marriage has narrowed the girls’ life horizons. Read more about Edmeades latest experience in the field and learn about ICRW’s GlobalGiving challenge that aims to tell the stories of young brides around the world – and show what the global community can do to end the practice of child marriage.

An ICRW researcher and young married girls in Ethiopia’s Amhara region compare life experiences.

Eyes That Haunt

Submitted by Gillian Gaynair on Wednesday, January 18, 2012

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Life as seen by an Ethiopian child bride

She married at 15 and became a mother soon after. ICRW’s senior writer Gillian Gaynair reports from Ethiopia’s remote central highlands on life as seen through the eyes of a child bride.

A Look Back: Making a Difference for Women and Girls in 2011

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ICRW highlights accomplishments from 2011

Tue, 12/20/2011

As we approach a new year, we share highlights from our work in 2011, which marked ICRW’s 35^th anniversary. Thanks to all of our partners and donors for your contributions to our efforts.

ICRW marked its 35^th anniversary in 2011, and as the year draws to a close, we share some highlights. Thanks to all of our partners and donors for your contributions to our work.

Passports to Progress

ICRW launched our Passports to Progress discussion series to spark rich conversation about issues likely to shape women’s lives in the coming years. We kicked off the series on International Women’s Day, with a top-notch panel that included Rajiv Shah, USAID administrator, Cherie Blair, former British first lady and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Tim Hanstad, president and CEO of Landesa, and Bobbi Silten, chief foundation officer at Gap Inc. Our debut Passports to Progress panel discussed how innovative technologies, ideas and approaches have the power to change the trajectory of women’s lives in developing countries.

Subsequent panels in our anniversary discussion series addressed solutions for ending violence against women and how to economically empower women worldwide. We plan to continue the discussions in 2012, so stay tuned.

Champions for Change Award for Innovation

We recognized Gap Inc. for its P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement) program this year with our annual Champions for Change Award for Innovation. The award honors an organization working to advance the health, well-being and economic progress of women and girls through their policies, programs and partnerships. Gap’s P.A.C.E. program was developed in 2006 to provide life and technical skills education to women who work in garment factories. The program aims to help them progress in the workplace and in their personal lives.

ICRW is the global evaluation partner on P.A.C.E., which operates in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Gap Inc.’s chief foundation officer, Bobbi Silten, accepted the award on International Women’s Day, saying that the women with whom P.A.C.E. works “are not only changing their lives, but they’re bringing change to the lives of their families and communities. We really believe at Gap Inc. that if we can advance women, we can change the world.”

At the annual Clinton Global Initiative in September, former President Bill Clinton also recognized P.A.C.E. as an exemplary example of economically advancing women worldwide.

Ending Child Marriage

ICRW’s long-standing work on preventing child marriage – and the issue itself – gained much attention in 2011. We released “Solutions to End Child Marriage: What the Evidence Shows,” which summarizes child marriage prevention approaches that work and recommends a way forward. We saw the issue – and our efforts and experts – featured in major news outlets, including National Geographic, The Daily Beast and Thomson Reuters Foundation’s TrustLaw, as well as at the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. We also were invited to share our insights with our partners at The Elders, who this year launched “Girls Not Brides,” a global campaign to end child marriage.

More than ever, we believe it’s critical that we capitalize on this unprecedented global attention on child marriage. Now is the time to harness this collective will to make sure that no girl is forced to wed and give up her dreams.

Want to keep up with our work to prevent child marriage? Sign up to receive our monthly newsletters to hear about our latest efforts.

Strengthening Women Economically

One of the ways that ICRW helped advance the gender and global development this year was with the release of our new guide to help evaluate whether programs to strengthen women economically are working. We found that a growing number of organizations – from government bodies to private companies – are committed to helping the world’s women succeed economically. But few know exactly how to get there. And that’s what our “Understanding and Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment” essentially covers.

Read more about what one of the report’s authors had to say about the guide and download a copy of the report.

Teenagers and Gender Equality

GEMS sign

Our program in Mumbai, India, that promotes more equitable roles between boys and girls and less violence grew significantly in 2011. Called Gender Equity Movement in Schools (GEMS), the program and research study took place in 30 schools, targeting 12-14 year old students. All told, GEMS reached 8,000 youth.

Now, the principles of GEMS are being integrated into more school lessons – specifically, 250 additional Mumbai schools are taking on the program, which will reach upwards of 80,000 girls and boys by 2014. The program also has been adopted in Vietnam’s Da Nang province.

Working with Men and Boys

In January 2011, we released the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), a three-year, multi-country household survey that gave a window into men’s attitudes and behaviors on topics related to gender equality. IMAGES offered one of the most comprehensive analyses to date of how men feel and act about everything from changing diapers to using violence.

Overall, the results demonstrated the complex – and at times contradictory – nature of men’s behavior. And they suggested that while most men accept the notion of gender equality and understand it intellectually, they don’t necessarily change their behaviors – at least not quickly.

Data from IMAGES provides a blueprint for how to shape or revise policies and improve existing programs that work with men to empower women and promote gender equality.

Commentary: Generation Girl

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It’s time to end child marriage

Mon, 12/19/2011

By Sarah Degnan Kambou

Every day an estimated 25,000 girls are married off against their will, which leads to tragic consequences for girls and their societies. It doesn’t have to be this way. With growing global momentum to stop this harmful practice, the time is ripe to ensure no girl is forced to marry too young and give up her dreams.

Every day an estimated 25,000 girls are married off against their will. Some are as young as eight years old. Others have just entered puberty. No matter their age, the moment the wedding ceremony ends, so do the girls’ dreams of becoming a teacher, a health worker, a lawyer.

It’s a tragic scenario, but not just for girls. It’s tragic for all of us who desire an economically stable, healthy world. Instead of growing up to be women who can contribute to the overall well-being of their families and communities, most child brides will drop out of school. From Yemen to Nicaragua, many girls will give birth while their own bodies are still developing, leading to terrible health problems. Most will live in servitude and suffer abuse. These are common outcomes of child marriage that perpetuate the cycle of poverty, lack of education, poor health and gender inequity in low-income societies.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Investing now in girls at risk of early marriage can yield lasting social and economic benefits not only for the girls themselves, but their families and society, too. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the smart thing to do.

ICRW has been advocating for the past decade on the need to end the harmful practice child marriage from a development, human rights and gender equity perspective. We have been putting ideas to practice in countries like Ethiopia and India. And now we find ourselves in the midst of an unprecedented growing movement to end child marriage: The Elders, an eminent group of former leaders like Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson, this year launched Girls Not Brides, a global campaign to raise awareness of the ills caused by child marriage. Other influential individuals also are shining a spotlight on the practice, such as award-winning photographer Stephanie Sinclair whose images documenting child brides have brought the issue into the mainstream. And news outlets such as The Daily Beast, National Geographic and many more are finally bringing much-needed attention to the poorest, most remote parts of the world where child marriage persists.

We must rush to take advantage of the global attention and harness this collective will so that girls are valued for being girls, rather than being considered economic burdens on their families. On the contrary, if they remain unmarried and are allowed to finish high school, girls at risk of child marriage can contribute to a future generation that could break free of the painful grip of acute poverty.

Indeed, in societies where early marriage is most common, girls are not valued in the same ways as boys. This is not to say that their families don’t love them. Many girls’ parents want to delay marriage, but with scant resources and social pressures, they feel they are left with no alternative.

But there are alternatives. Harmful social norms can – and do – change. The promising practices ICRW has uncovered are a starting point for creating a more equitable environment for girls. And what’s more, there is evidence that they are working.

Some approaches that address the multiple causes and consequences of child marriage include: Arming girls with information, skills and support networks so they gain confidence and know themselves, their world and their options; educating parents on the long-term economic benefits of delaying marriage; mobilizing communities to adopt social norms that support those willing to buck the custom of early marriage; and offering economic incentives for girls and their families, who often are motivated by poverty and the lack of viable income-generating options.

More than any other time in recent history, this is the moment to redouble our joint efforts and work toward ending the harmful practice of child marriage so no girl is forced to wed too young and give up her dreams. Let’s do just that by making more investments and demonstrating the political will to create the first generation of girls who will rightly worry about finishing their homework, instead of feeding their husbands.

Sarah Degnan Kambou is president of the International Center for Research on Women.

North Indian ‘Apni Beti’ Program Strikes a Blow Against Child Marriage

in

Mon, 12/19/2011

The Daily Beast

By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

The Daily Beast profiles an innovative program in north India that uses cash to encourage families to keep their daughters in school instead of marrying them off at a young age. ICRW is currently evaluating the program, which was launched in 1994. ICRW’s Anju Malhotra is featured in the article, which was reported by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a New York Times bestselling author, fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and ICRW board member.

Leadership at All Levels

Submitted by Roxanne Stachowski and Ann Warner on Friday, November 4, 2011

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Congresswoman reintroduces legislation to prevent child marriage

U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) on Nov. 3 on Nov.oon Nov. 3 reintroduced the Child Marriage Violates the Human Rights of Girls Act of 2011. The legislation has been introduced - but not yet passed - in every session of Congress since 2006.