II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 414 

To protect girls in developing countries through the prevention of child 

marriage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2011 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. 

BROWN of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To protect girls in developing countries through the 

prevention of child marriage, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Pro5 tecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Child marriage, also known as ‘‘forced mar9 riage’’ or ‘‘early marriage’’, is a harmful traditional 


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1 practice that deprives girls of their dignity and 

2 human rights. 

3 (2) Child marriage as a traditional practice, as 

4 well as through coercion or force, is a violation of ar5 ticle 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human 

6 Rights, which states, ‘‘Marriage shall be entered into 

7 only with the free and full consent of intending 

8 spouses’’. 

9 (3) According to the United Nations Children’s 

10 Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 60,000,000 girls in 

11 developing countries now ages 20 through 24 were 

12 married under the age of 18, and if present trends 

13 continue more than 100,000,000 more girls in devel14 oping countries will be married as children over the 

15 next decade, according to the Population Council. 

(4) Between 1⁄2 and 3 16 ⁄4 of all girls are married 

17 before the age of 18 in Niger, Chad, Mali, Ban18 gladesh, Guinea, the Central African Republic, Mo19 zambique, Burkina Faso, and Nepal, according to 

20 Demographic Health Survey data. 

21 (5) Factors perpetuating child marriage include 

22 poverty, a lack of educational or employment oppor23 tunities for girls, parental concerns to ensure sexual 

24 relations within marriage, the dowry system, and the 

25 perceived lack of value of girls. 


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1 (6) Child marriage has negative effects on the 

2 health of girls, including significantly increased risk 

3 of maternal death and morbidity, infant mortality 

4 and morbidity, obstetric fistula, and sexually trans5 mitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. 

6 (7) According to the United States Agency for 

7 International Development (USAID), increasing the 

8 age at first birth for a woman will increase her 

9 chances of survival. Currently, pregnancy and child10 birth complications are the leading cause of death 

11 for women 15 to 19 years old in developing coun12 tries. 

13 (8) Most countries with high rates of child mar14 riage have a legally established minimum age of 

15 marriage, yet child marriage persists due to strong 

16 traditional norms and the failure to enforce existing 

17 laws. 

18 (9) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stat19 ed that child marriage is ‘‘a clear and unacceptable 

20 violation of human rights’’, and that ‘‘the Depart21 ment of State categorically denounces all cases of 

22 child marriage as child abuse’’. 

23 (10) According to an International Center for 

24 Research on Women analysis of Demographic and 

25 Health Survey data, areas or regions in developing 


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1 countries in which 40 percent or more of girls under 

2 the age of 18 are married are considered high-preva3 lence areas for child marriage. 

4 (11) Investments in girls’ schooling, creating 

5 safe community spaces for girls, and programs for 

6 skills building for out-of-school girls are all effective 

7 and demonstrated strategies for preventing child 

8 marriage and creating a pathway to empower girls 

9 by addressing conditions of poverty, low status, and 

10 norms that contribute to child marriage. 

11 SEC. 3. CHILD MARRIAGE DEFINED. 

12 In this Act, the term ‘‘child marriage’’ means the 

13 marriage of a girl or boy, not yet the minimum age for 

14 marriage stipulated in law in the country in which the girl 

15 or boy is a resident or, where there is no such law, under 

16 the age of 18. 

17 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that— 

19 (1) child marriage is a violation of human 

20 rights, and the prevention and elimination of child 

21 marriage should be a foreign policy goal of the 

22 United States; 

23 (2) the practice of child marriage undermines 

24 United States investments in foreign assistance to 

25 promote education and skills building for girls, reVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:29 Feb 19, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S414.IS S414

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1 duce maternal and child mortality, reduce maternal 

2 illness, halt the transmission of HIV/AIDS, prevent 

3 gender-based violence, and reduce poverty; and 

4 (3) expanding educational opportunities for 

5 girls, economic opportunities for women, and reduc6 ing maternal and child mortality are critical to 

7 achieving the Millennium Development Goals and 

8 the global health and development objectives of the 

9 United States, including efforts to prevent HIV/ 

10 AIDS. 

11 SEC. 5. STRATEGY TO PREVENT CHILD MARRIAGE IN DE12 VELOPING COUNTRIES. 

13 (a) ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized 

15 to provide assistance, including through multilateral, 

16 nongovernmental, and faith-based organizations, to 

17 prevent the incidence of child marriage in developing 

18 countries through the promotion of educational, 

19 health, economic, social, and legal empowerment of 

20 girls and women. 

21 (2) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance author22 ized under paragraph (1), the President shall give 

23 priority to— 


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1 (A) areas or regions in developing coun2 tries in which 40 percent or more of girls under 

3 the age of 18 are married; and 

4 (B) activities to— 

5 (i) expand and replicate existing com6 munity-based programs that are successful 

7 in preventing the incidence of child mar8 riage; 

9 (ii) establish pilot projects to prevent 

10 child marriage; and 

11 (iii) share evaluations of successful 

12 programs, program designs, experiences, 

13 and lessons. 

14 (b) STRATEGY REQUIRED.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 

16 a multi-year strategy to prevent child marriage and 

17 promote the empowerment of girls at risk of child 

18 marriage in developing countries, which should ad19 dress the unique needs, vulnerabilities, and potential 

20 of girls under age 18 in developing countries. 

21 (2) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the strat22 egy required by paragraph (1), the President shall 

23 consult with Congress, relevant Federal departments 

24 and agencies, multilateral organizations, and rep25 resentatives of civil society. 


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1 (3) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by 

2 paragraph (1) shall— 

3 (A) focus on areas in developing countries 

4 with high prevalence of child marriage; 

5 (B) encompass diplomatic initiatives be6 tween the United States and governments of 

7 developing countries, with attention to human 

8 rights, legal reforms, and the rule of law; 

9 (C) encompass programmatic initiatives in 

10 the areas of education, health, income genera11 tion, changing social norms, human rights, and 

12 democracy building; and 

13 (D) be submitted to Congress not later 

14 than one year after the date of the enactment 

15 of this Act. 

16 (c) REPORT.—Not later than three years after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the President should 

18 submit to Congress a report that includes— 

19 (1) a description of the implementation of the 

20 strategy required by subsection (b); 

21 (2) examples of best practices or programs to 

22 prevent child marriage in developing countries that 

23 could be replicated; and 

24 (3) an assessment, including data disaggregated 

25 by age and sex to the extent possible, of current 


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1 United States funded efforts to specifically prevent 

2 child marriage in developing countries. 

3 (d) COORDINATION.—Assistance authorized under 

4 subsection (a) shall be integrated with existing United 

5 States development programs. 

6 (e) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance authorized 

7 under subsection (a) may be made available for activities 

8 in the areas of education, health, income generation, agri9 culture development, legal rights, democracy building, and 

10 human rights, including— 

11 (1) support for community-based activities that 

12 encourage community members to address beliefs or 

13 practices that promote child marriage and to edu14 cate parents, community leaders, religious leaders, 

15 and adolescents of the health risks associated with 

16 child marriage and the benefits for adolescents, es17 pecially girls, of access to education, health care, 

18 livelihood skills, microfinance, and savings programs; 

19 (2) support for activities to educate girls in pri20 mary and secondary school at the appropriate age 

21 and keeping them in age-appropriate grade levels 

22 through adolescence; 

23 (3) support for activities to reduce education 

24 fees and enhance safe and supportive conditions in 


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1 primary and secondary schools to meet the needs of 

2 girls, including— 

3 (A) access to water and suitable hygiene 

4 facilities, including separate lavatories and la5 trines for girls; 

6 (B) assignment of female teachers; 

7 (C) safe routes to and from school; and 

8 (D) eliminating sexual harassment and 

9 other forms of violence and coercion; 

10 (4) support for activities that allow adolescent 

11 girls to access health care services and proper nutri12 tion, which is essential to both their school perform13 ance and their economic productivity; 

14 (5) assistance to train adolescent girls and their 

15 parents in financial literacy and access economic op16 portunities, including livelihood skills, savings, 

17 microfinance, and small-enterprise development; 

18 (6) support for education, including through 

19 community and faith-based organizations and youth 

20 programs, that helps remove gender stereotypes and 

21 the bias against girls used to justify child marriage, 

22 especially efforts targeted at men and boys, pro23 motes zero tolerance for violence, and promotes gen24 der equality, which in turn help to increase the per25 ceived value of girls; 


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1 (7) assistance to create peer support and female 

2 mentoring networks and safe social spaces specifi3 cally for girls; and 

4 (8) support for local advocacy work to provide 

5 legal literacy programs at the community level to en6 sure that governments and law enforcement officials 

7 are meeting their obligations to prevent child and 

8 forced marriage. 

9 SEC. 6. RESEARCH AND DATA. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that the President and 

11 all relevant agencies should, as part of their ongoing re12 search and data collection activities— 

13 (1) collect and make available data on the inci14 dence of child marriage in countries that receive for15 eign or development assistance from the United 

16 States where the practice of child marriage is preva17 lent; and 

18 (2) collect and make available data on the im19 pact of the incidence of child marriage and the age 

20 at marriage on progress in meeting key development 

21 goals. 

22 SEC. 7. DEPARTMENT OF STATE’S COUNTRY REPORTS ON 

23 HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES. 

24 The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 116 (22 U.S.C. 2151n), by add2 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(g) The report required by subsection (d) shall in4 clude, for each country in which child marriage is preva5 lent, a description of the status of the practice of child 

6 marriage in such country. In this subsection, the term 

7 ‘child marriage’ means the marriage of a girl or boy, not 

8 yet the minimum age for marriage stipulated in law or 

9 under the age of 18 if no such law exists, in the country 

10 in which such girl or boy is a resident.’’; and 

11 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by add12 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(j) The report required by subsection (b) shall in14 clude, for each country in which child marriage is preva15 lent, a description of the status of the practice of child 

16 marriage in such country. In this subsection, the term 

17 ‘child marriage’ means the marriage of a girl or boy, not 

18 yet the minimum age for marriage stipulated in law or 

19 under the age of 18 if no such law exists, in the country 

20 in which such girl or boy is a resident.’’. 

Æ 


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