In December of 2010, the Senate voted unanimously to pass the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act. This piece of legislation was sponsored by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), the bill aimed to protect women and girls in developing countries from entering into child marriages. If the bill had passed, it would have required that the Department of State implement a multi-year plan to prevent child marriages in developing nations and promote the educational, health, economic, social, and legal empowerment of girls and women. The act was not passed in the House.
UNICEF reports that over 60 percent of women were married prior to their 18th birthday in Sub-Saharan African and Bangladesh. Furthermore, the maternal mortality rate is five times higher for women under 16 years of age than those between 20 and 24. When discussing this piece of legislation Senator Durbin stated, “Tens of millions of women and girls around the world have lost their dignity, independence and lives due to child marriage. Child marriage denies these women and girls of an education, economic independence and is the root cause of many of the world’s most pressing development issues – HIV/ AIDS, child mortality, and abject poverty.”
In February of 2011, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (S.414). As of February 28, 2011, the cosponsors for this piece of legislation were as follows: Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA); Senator Scott Brown (R-MA); Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD); and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME). In the continuing months since the legislation was introduced more members of the Senate have decided to cosponsor this piece of legislation.
The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2011 seeks to “…reduce maternal and child mortality, reduce maternal illness, halt the transmission of HIV/AIDS [and] prevent gender-based violence. The bill requires the President to establish a multi-year strategy to prevent child marriage and authorizes the President to implement a variety of foreign assistance programs directed at the needs of girls including “access to water and suitable hygiene facilities . . . [and] access to health care services and proper nutrition for adolescent girls.” The bill authorizes “such sums as necessary.”
Sources: The Library of Congress. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s US Global Policy Tracker. UNICEF. Senator Dick Durbin’s website.
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