[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3651 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3651
To reduce child marriage, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 13, 2006
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Hagel, and Mrs. Clinton) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reduce child marriage, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``International Child Marriage
Prevention and Assistance Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Research shows that child marriage in developing
nations is often associated with adverse economic and social
consequences and is dangerous to the health, security, and
well-being of girls and detrimental to the economic development
of communities.
(2) The issue of child marriage is interwoven with broader
social and cultural issues and is most effectively addressed as
a development challenge through integrated, community-based
approaches to promote and support girls' education and skill-
building and healthcare, legal rights, and awareness for girls
and women.
(3) As Charlotte Ponticelli, Senior Coordinator for
International Women's Issues for the Department of State,
stated on September 14, 2005: ``It is unconscionable that in
the 21st century girls as young as 7 or 8 can be sold as
brides. There is no denying that extreme poverty is the driving
factor that has enabled the practice to continue, even in
countries where it has been outlawed...We need to be shining
the spotlight on early marriage and its underlying causes...We
must continue to do everything we can to ensure that girls have
every opportunity to become agents of change and to expand the
`realm of what is possible' for their societies and the world
at large.''
(4) The severity of the adverse impact of child marriage
increases as the age at marriage and first childbirth
decreases.
(5) A Department of State survey in 2005 found that child
marriage was a concern in 64 out of 182 countries surveyed and
that the practice is especially acute in sub-Saharan Africa and
South Asia.
(6) According to the United Nations Children's Fund, in
Ethiopia and in parts of West Africa marriage at the age of 7
or 8 is not uncommon.
(7) In developing countries, girls aged 10 to 14 who become
pregnant are 5 times more likely to die in pregnancy or
childbirth than women aged 20 to 24.
(8) Girls in sub-Saharan Africa are at much higher risk of
suffering obstetric fistula.
(9) According to the Department of State: ``Pregnancy at an
early age often leads to obstetric fistulae and permanent
incontinence. In Ethiopia, treatment is available at only 1
hospital in Addis Ababa that performs over 1,000 fistula
operations a year. It estimates that for every successful
operation performed, 10 other young women need the treatment.
The maternal mortality rate is extremely high due, in part, to
food taboos for pregnant women, poverty, early marriage, and
birth complications related to FGM [Female Genital Mutilation],
especially infibulation.''.
(10) Adolescents are at greater risk of complications
during childbirth that can lead to fistula because they have
less access to health care and are subject to other significant
risk factors related to the mother's physical immaturity.
(11) In nearly every case of obstetric fistula, the baby
will be stillborn.
(12) The physical symptoms of obstetric fistula include
incontinence or constant uncontrollable leaking of urine or
feces, frequent bladder infections, infertility, and foul odor.
The condition often leads to the desertion of fistula sufferers
by husbands and family members and extreme social stigma.
(13) Although data on obstetric fistula are scarce, the
World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are more
than 2,000,000 women living with fistula and 50,000 to 100,000
new cases each year. These figures are based on the number of
women who seek medical care. Many more suffer from the
disabling condition.
(14) Adolescent girls are more susceptible than mature
women to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, due to
both biological and social factors.
(15) Research in several countries with high rates of HIV
infection indicates that married girls are at greater risk for
HIV than their unmarried peers.
(16) Child marriage can have additional long-term
consequences when combined with female genital cutting because
the girls who have undergone that procedure can experience
greater complications during pregnancy, leading to lasting
health problems for themselves and their children.
(17) Child marriage is a leading barrier to girls'
education in certain developing countries.
(18) A high incidence of child marriage undermines the
efforts of developing countries and donor countries, including
the United States, to promote economic and social development.
(19) The causes of child marriage include poverty, custom,
and the desire to protect girls from violence or premarital
sexual relations.
(20) Child marriage may also be a product of gender
violence in which a man abducts and rapes a girl and then,
sometimes through negotiations with traditional leaders,
negotiates a settlement with the girl's parents, including
marriage to the victim.
(21) The practice of child marriage is considered a
``harmful traditional practice'' by the United Nations
Children's Fund.
(22) The Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for
Marriage, and Registration of Marriages, adopted at the United
Nations, December 10, 1962, requires the parties to the
Convention to overcome all ``customs, ancient laws, and
practices by ensuring complete freedom in the choice of a
spouse, eliminating completely child marriages and the
betrothal of young girls before the age of puberty''.
(23) The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
Child, which entered into force in 1990, provides that ``child
marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys shall be
prohibited and effective action, including legislation, shall
be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be eighteen
years''.
(24) In Ethiopia, Girls' Activity Committees, community-
based groups formed to support girls in school and advocate for
girls' education, have conducted community awareness and
informational campaigns, enlisted the assistance of traditional
clan and religious leaders, discouraged families from
practicing child marriage, encouraged girls' school attendance,
and taken steps to reduce gender-based violence and create
safer environments for girls en route to or from school and in
the classroom.
(25) Recognizing the importance of the issue and the
effects of child marriage, the Senior Coordinator for
International Women's Issues of the Department of State
initiated an effort in 2005 to collect and assess information
on the incidence of child marriage and on the existence and
effectiveness of initiatives funded by the United States to
reduce the incidence of child marriage or the negative effects
of child marriage and to measure the need for additional
programs.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Agency.
(2) Agency.--Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the
term ``Agency'' means the United States Agency for
International Development.
(3) Child marriage.--The term ``child marriage'' means the
legal or traditional marriage of a girl or boy who has not yet
reached the minimum age for marriage stipulated in law in the
country of which they are a citizen.
(4) Developing nation.--The term ``developing nation''
means any nation eligible to receive assistance from the
International Development Association or the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development.
(5) HIV.--The term ``HIV'' has the meaning given that term
in section 3 of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7602).
(6) HIV/AIDS.--The term ``HIV/AIDS'' has the meaning given
that term in section 3 of the United States Leadership Against
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C.
7602).
(7) Obstetric fistula.--The term ``obstetric fistula''
means a rupture or hole in tissues surrounding the vagina,
bladder, or rectum that occurs during prolonged, obstructed
childbirth.
(8) Relevant executive branch agencies.--The term
``relevant executive branch agencies'' means the Department of
State, the Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services,
and any other department or agency of the United States,
including the Millennium Challenge Corporation, that is
involved in implementing international health or development
policies and programs of the United States.
(9) Secretary.--Except as otherwise provided in this Act,
the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of State.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the untapped economic and educational potential of
girls and women in many developing nations represent an
enormous loss to those societies;
(2) expanding educational opportunities for girls and
economic opportunities for women and reducing maternal and
child mortality are critical to the achievement of
internationally recognized health and development goals and of
many global health and development objectives of the United
States, including efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS;
(3) since child marriage is a leading barrier to the
continuation of girl's education in many developing countries,
it is important to integrate this issue into new and existing
United States-funded efforts to promote education, strengthen
legal rights and legal awareness, reduce gender-based violence,
and promote skill-building and economic opportunities for girls
and young women in regions with a high incidence of child
marriage; and
(4) effective community-based efforts to reduce and move
toward the elimination of child marriage as part of an
integrated strategy to promote girls' education and empowerment
will yield long-term dividends in the health and economic
sectors in developing countries.
SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF CHILD MARRIAGE PREVENTION STRATEGY.
(a) Requirements for Strategy.--The Secretary shall develop a
comprehensive strategy, taking into account the work of the relevant
executive branch agencies, to reduce the incidences of child marriage
around the world by further integrating this issue into existing and
planned relevant United States development efforts.
(b) Report on Strategy.--
(1) Requirement for report.--Not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit
to Congress a report on the strategy described in subsection
(a), including a discussion of the elements described in
paragraph (2).
(2) Report elements.--The elements referred to in paragraph
(1) are the following:
(A) A description of existing or potential
approaches to prevent child marriage and address the
vulnerabilities of populations who may be at risk of
child marriage.
(B) A description of programs funded by the United
States that address child marriage, and an assessment
of the impact of such programs in the areas of health,
education, and access to economic opportunities,
including microfinance programs.
(C) A description of programs funded by the United
States that are intended to prevent obstetric fistula.
(D) A description of programs funded by the United
States that support the surgical treatment of obstetric
fistula.
(E) A description of the impact of child marriage
on the United States efforts to assist in achieving the
goals set out in the United Nations Millennium
Declaration adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on September 8, 2000 (resolution 55/2),
including specifically the impact on efforts to--
(i) eliminate gender disparity in primary
and secondary education;
(ii) reduce child mortality;
(iii) improve maternal health; and
(iv) combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis,
malaria, and other disease.
(F) A description of the impact of child marriage
on achieving the purposes set out in section 602 of the
Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701).
(G) A description of how the issue of child
marriage can best be integrated into existing or
planned United States programs to promote girls'
education and skill-building, healthcare, legal rights
and awareness, and other relevant programs in
developing nations.
(c) Report on Child Marriage.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with
other appropriate officials, shall submit to the Committees on Foreign
Relations and Appropriations of the Senate and the Committees on
International Relations and Appropriations of the House of
Representatives a report that describes--
(1) United States assistance programs that address child
marriage;
(2) the impact of child marriage on maternal mortality and
morbidity and on infant mortality in countries in which child
marriage is prevalent;
(3) the projected effect of such programs on increasing the
age of marriage, reducing maternal mortality and morbidity,
reducing the incidence of obstetric fistula, reducing the
incidence of domestic violence, increasing girls' access to and
completion of primary and secondary education, reducing the
incidence of early childbearing, and reducing HIV infection
rates among married and unmarried adolescents;
(4) the scale and scope of the practice of child marriage
in developing nations; and
(5) the status of efforts by the government of each
developing nation with a high incidence of child marriage to
eliminate such practices.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE TO REDUCE INCIDENCES OF CHILDHOOD
MARRIAGE AND OBSTETRIC FISTULA.
The President is authorized to provide assistance, including
through international, nongovernmental, or faith-based organizations or
through direct assistance to a recipient country, for programs to
reduce the incidences of child marriage and promote the empowerment of
girls and young woman. Such assistance may include--
(1) improving the access of girls and young women in
developing nations to primary and secondary education and
vocational training;
(2) supporting community education activities to educate
parents, community leaders, and adolescents of the health risks
associated with child marriage and the benefits for
adolescents, especially girls, of access to education, health
care, employment, microfinance, and savings programs;
(3) supporting community-based organizations in encouraging
the prevention or delay of child marriage and its replacement
with other non-harmful rites of passage;
(4) increasing access of women to economic opportunities,
including microfinance and small enterprise development;
(5) supporting efforts to prevent gender-based violence;
(6) improving access of adolescents to adequate health
care;
(7) supporting programs to promote educational and economic
opportunities and access to health care for adolescents who are
already married;
(8) supporting the surgical repair of fistula, including
the creation or expansion of centers for the treatment of
fistula in countries with high rates of fistula, and the care,
support, and transportation of persons in need of such surgery;
and
(9) supporting efforts to reduce incidences of fistula,
including programs to increase access to skilled birth
attendants, and to promote access to family planning where
desired by local communities.
SEC. 7. RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION.
The Secretary shall work through the Agency and any other relevant
agencies of the Department of State, and in conjunction with relevant
executive branch agencies as part of their ongoing research and data
collection activities, to--
(1) collect and make available data on the incidence of
child marriage in countries that receive foreign or development
assistance from the United States where the practice of child
marriage is prevalent; and
(2) collect and make available data on the impact of the
incidence of child marriage and the age at marriage on progress
in meeting key development goals.
SEC. 8. HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT.
The Secretary shall include in the Department of State's Annual
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices a section for each country
where child marriage is prevalent, outlining the status of the practice
of child marriage in that country.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND OTHER FUNDING.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions
of this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, in addition to funds
otherwise available for such purposes, amounts as follows:
(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
(2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.
(3) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2009.
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