I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3357 

To protect girls in developing countries through the prevention of child 

marriage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2011 

Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Ms. ESHOO, 

Mr. LATOURETTE, Ms. DEGETTE, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. 

CHANDLER, Mr. TIBERI, Ms. MOORE, Mr. DENT, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. BROWN of 

Florida, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. 

ANDREWS, Mr. KIND, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. RYAN of 

Ohio, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. RICHARDSON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Mrs. CAPPS, and Ms. DELAURO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Marriage Vio3 lates the Human Rights of Girls Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Child marriage, also known as ‘‘forced mar7 riage’’ or ‘‘early marriage’’, is a harmful traditional 

8 practice that deprives girls of their basic human 

9 rights. 

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

11 well as through coercion or force, is a violation of ar12 ticle 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human 

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

14 only with the free and full consent of intending 

15 spouses.’’. 

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

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

18 developing countries now ages 20 to 24 were mar19 ried under the age of 18, and if present trends con20 tinue, more than 100,000,000 more girls in devel21 oping countries will be married as children over the 

22 next decade, according to the Population Council. 

23 (4) The rape, violent abuse, and physical exploi24 tation of young girls, at times as young as ten years 

25 old, are frequent consequences of children forced 


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1 into marriages in countries such as Bangladesh 

2 where 57 percent of girls are married by age 15. 

3 (5) Factors perpetuating child marriage include 

4 poverty, a lack of educational or employment oppor5 tunities for girls, parental concerns to ensure sexual 

6 relations within marriage, the dowry system, and the 

7 perceived lack of value of girls. 

8 (6) Child marriage has negative effects on girls’ 

9 health, including significantly increased risk of ma10 ternal death and morbidity, obstetric fistula, sexually 

11 transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and in12 fant mortality and morbidity. 

13 (7) Girls’ schooling, creating safe community 

14 spaces for girls, and programs for skills building for 

15 out-of-school girls are all effective and evidence16 based strategies for preventing child marriage and 

17 creating a pathway to the empowerment of girls by 

18 addressing conditions of poverty, low status, and 

19 norms that contribute to child marriage. 

20 (8) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton 

21 has stated that, ‘‘Stopping child marriage is not just 

22 a must for moral or human rights reasons—it lays 

23 the foundation for so many other things we hope to 

24 achieve. Primary education. Improved child and maVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:05 Nov 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3357.IH H3357

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1 ternal health. Sustainable economic development 

2 that includes girls.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. CHILD MARRIAGE DEFINED. 

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

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

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

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

8 the age of 18. 

9 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that— 

11 (1) child marriage is a violation of human 

12 rights and the prevention and elimination of child 

13 marriage should be a foreign policy goal of the 

14 United States; 

15 (2) the practice of child marriage undermines 

16 United States investments in foreign assistance to 

17 promote education and skills building for girls, re18 duce maternal and child mortality, reduce maternal 

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

20 gender-based violence, and reduce poverty; and 

21 (3) educational opportunities for girls, economic 

22 opportunities for women, and reducing maternal and 

23 child mortality are critical to achieving the global 

24 health and development objectives of the United 

25 States, including efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS. 


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1 SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND DATA. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, the Ad3 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 

4 Development, and the heads of other relevant departments 

5 and agencies shall— 

6 (1) collect and make publicly available data on 

7 the incidence of child marriage in countries that re8 ceive foreign or development assistance from the 

9 United States where the practice of child marriage 

10 is prevalent, including to the extent appropriate the 

11 countries listed in subsection (b); and 

12 (2) collect and make publicly available data on 

13 the impact of the incidence of child marriage and 

14 the age at marriage on progress in meeting key de15 velopment goals. 

16 (b) COUNTRIES.—The countries referred to in sub17 section (a)(1) are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina 

18 Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the 

19 Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Repub20 lic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Honduras, India, Mada21 gascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, 

22 Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, 

23 and Zambia. 

24 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF STATE’S COUNTRY REPORTS ON 

25 HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES. 

26 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)(1) The report required by subsection (d) shall 

4 include, for each country in which child marriage is preva5 lent, including to the extent appropriate the countries list6 ed in paragraph (2), a description of the status of the 

7 practice of child marriage in such country and the type 

8 and amount of United State foreign assistance being used 

9 for the primary goal of preventing child marriage in such 

10 country. 

11 ‘‘(2) The countries referred to in paragraph (1) are 

12 Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the 

13 Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic 

14 of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, 

15 Guinea, Honduras, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mo16 zambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Si17 erra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. 

18 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘child marriage’ 

19 means the marriage of a girl or boy, not yet the minimum 

20 age for marriage stipulated in law or under the age of 

21 18 if no such law exists, in the country in which such girl 

22 or boy is a resident.’’; and 

23 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by add24 ing at the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(j)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall 

2 include, for each country in which child marriage is preva3 lent, including to the extent appropriate the countries list4 ed in paragraph (2), a description of the status of the 

5 practice of child marriage in such country and the type 

6 and amount of United State foreign assistance being used 

7 for the primary goal of preventing child marriage in such 

8 country. 

9 ‘‘(2) The countries referred to in paragraph (1) are 

10 Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the 

11 Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic 

12 of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, 

13 Guinea, Honduras, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mo14 zambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Si15 erra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. 

16 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘child marriage’ 

17 means the marriage of a girl or boy, not yet the minimum 

18 age for marriage stipulated in law or under the age of 

19 18 if no such law exists, in the country in which such girl 

20 or boy is a resident.’’. 

Æ 


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