The United States Congress should take a leadership role in stopping millions of young girls each year from being forced into unwanted marriages, experts testified today at a hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Representatives from leading humanitarian organizations, including CARE, spoke out against the practice as a gross human rights violation that puts young girls at risk and keeps them mired in poverty. "More than 60 million girls ages 17 and younger--many as young as 10--are forced into marriage in developing countries. Many of these girls are married to men more than twice their age," said Stephanie Baric, senior technical advisor for CARE's Basic and Girls Education Unit, who testified at today's hearing. "If child marriage continues at its current rate, an additional 100 million girls globally will be child brides in the next decade. Not only does this unacceptable practice thwart a girl's education, it endangers her health and often locks her into a life of poverty."
Child marriage is a contributing factor to cyclical poverty for women and girls and has a devastating impact on the entire community. Girls forced to marry early will likely become young mothers, which is often a death sentence. Girls under age 15 are five times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than women ages 20 to 24. Complications related to childbirth and pregnancy are the leading cause of death worldwide for girls ages 15 to 19. In addition, early marriage is a risk factor for domestic violence, higher rates of maternal and/or infant mortality, malnutrition and HIV infection. However, girls who are not forced to marry may have the opportunity to pursue an education which will result in better outcomes for their health and economic future. Every extra year of education a girl receives raises her and her family's wages by 10 to 20 percent; children of educated mothers are 40 percent more likely to live past age five.
The hearing addressed the causes and consequences of child marriage and encouraged legislators to pass the International Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009 (S.987/H.R. 2103) this year. This bipartisan legislation will ensure that child marriage is recognized as a human rights violation, develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent child marriage and empower young girls, integrate child marriage prevention approaches throughout U.S. foreign assistance programs and scale up proven approaches and programs to end the practice.
Source: CARE
