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 Illi-
nois, 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 JOHN-
SON of Texas, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. 
ANDREWS, Mr. KIND, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. BRADY of Pennsyl-
vania, 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. HAS-
TINGS 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Marriage Vio-
lates the Human Rights of Girls Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Child marriage, also known as ‘‘forced mar-
riage’’ or ‘‘early marriage’’, is a harmful traditional 
practice that deprives girls of their basic human 
rights. 
(2) Child marriage as a traditional practice, as 
well as through coercion or force, is a violation of ar-
ticle 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights, which states, ‘‘Marriage shall be entered into 
only with the free and full consent of intending 
spouses.’’. 
(3) According to the United Nations Children’s 
Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 60,000,000 girls in 
developing countries now ages 20 to 24 were mar-
ried under the age of 18, and if present trends con-
tinue, more than 100,000,000 more girls in devel-
oping countries will be married as children over the 
next decade, according to the Population Council. 
(4) The rape, violent abuse, and physical exploi-
tation of young girls, at times as young as ten years 
old, are frequent consequences of children forced 
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into marriages in countries such as Bangladesh 
where 57 percent of girls are married by age 15. 
(5) Factors perpetuating child marriage include 
poverty, a lack of educational or employment oppor-
tunities for girls, parental concerns to ensure sexual 
relations within marriage, the dowry system, and the 
perceived lack of value of girls. 
(6) Child marriage has negative effects on girls’ 
health, including significantly increased risk of ma-
ternal death and morbidity, obstetric fistula, sexually 
transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and in-
fant mortality and morbidity. 
(7) Girls’ schooling, creating safe community 
spaces for girls, and programs for skills building for 
out-of-school girls are all effective and evidence- 
based strategies for preventing child marriage and 
creating a pathway to the empowerment of girls by 
addressing conditions of poverty, low status, and 
norms that contribute to child marriage. 
(8) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton 
has stated that, ‘‘Stopping child marriage is not just 
a must for moral or human rights reasons—it lays 
the foundation for so many other things we hope to 
achieve. Primary education. Improved child and ma-
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