Whatever happened to the U.S. campaign to ban child marriage?
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Whatever → happen → marriage
Our team of global health reporters has covered child marriage –- when one partner is under age 18.
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partner → cover → age
The United Nations calls it a "human rights violation," citing a litany of concerns for child brides: "early pregnancy and social isolation, interrupting her schooling, limiting her opportunities for career and vocational advancement and placing her at risk of domestic violence."
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Nations → call → violence
Yet every year, the U.N. estimates that 12 million girls become child brides.
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girls → estimate → ?
Child grooms, the U.N. further notes, may be forced into "an adult role for which they are unprepared," with pressure to drop out of school and support a family.
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they → note → family
The U.N. has set the goal of ending child marriage by the year 2030.
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U.N. → set → year
This year there are new efforts to make child marriage illegal — a bill introduced by U.S. legislators in July and a resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on September 4 establishes November 27 as the International Day to End Child, Early and Forced Marriage.
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resolution → be → Marriage
As part of our "Whatever happened to …" series, we asked contributor Kamala Thiagarajan to examine the ongoing effort to end this practice.
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we → happen → practice
Over the next week, we'll be looking back at some of our past global health and development stories to see "whatever happened to ..."
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whatever → look → stories
Nations around the world are seeking to meet the U.N. goal of ending child marriage by 2030.
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Nations → seek → 2030
Since 2021, countries as diverse as Sierra Leone, England, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic have been passing legislation to set the marriage age at 18, with no exceptions.
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countries → pass → exceptions
In the United States, the current push for a national law is controversial — some have criticized provisions in the proposed legislation, and others oppose it altogether.
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others → criticize → it
In India, marriage under age 18 is illegal, yet the latest National Family Health Survey conducted in country found that one in five women ages 20 to 24 married before turning 18.
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women → conduct → 18
UNICEF estimates that at least 1.5 million girls under the age of 18 are married in India each year.
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girls → estimate → India
On July 16, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin and Sens. Dick Durbin, Brian Schatz and Kirsten Gillibrand introduced the Child Marriage Prevention Act, a federal bill aimed at combating child marriage.
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Moore → introduce → marriage
This legislation would push states toward a nationwide minimum marriage age of 18.
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legislation → push → 18
"In 34 states, including Wisconsin, child marriage is legal.
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marriage → include → Wisconsin
It's time we end this predatory practice," Moore said in a statement emailed to NPR.
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Moore → end → NPR
"I know that advocates have pushed for reform at the state level, which has led some states to change their laws.
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which → know → laws
This federal legislation would help bolster and support those efforts, including helping states get the data to understand its prevalence in their jurisdictions and then take action to address it.
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data → help → it
In announcing the bill, its four congressional cosponsors cited data showing that more than 314,000 minors were legally married in the United States between 2000 and 2021, including girls as young as 10.
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minors → announce → 10
The figures, compiled by child-marriage advocacy groups from state marriage records, indicate that most of the underage girls were married to adult men.
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most → compile → men
Unchained At Last, a nonprofit worked to end forced and child marriage in the U.S., estimates that at least 66,415 of these marriages — about one in five — occurred when the bride was at an age when sexual relations would be considered a crime (the age varies from 14 to 18 depending on the state).
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age → work → state
In roughly 90% of that subset, according to the organization's founder, Fraidy Reiss, marital exemptions in state statutory-rape laws shielded the adult spouse from prosecution.
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exemptions → accord → prosecution
Married minors may also face legal barriers to hiring an attorney, filing for divorce or obtaining protection from abuse.
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minors → face → abuse
The Tahirih Justice Center, an organization with a long history of advocating for survivors of forced and child marriage, has been a key partner in developing and supporting this legislation.
"
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Center → advocate → legislation
The one thing we hear all the time from places — Cameroon, Guatemala, you name it — is: 'It makes my work harder when a politician can say to my face, the United States allows child marriage, so why should I do anything?'
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I → hear → anything
The best thing that we can do to help the global movement is to get our house in order," says Casey Carter Swegman, director of public policy at Tahirih.
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Swegman → do → Tahirih
Swegman says that a child's apparent consent does not necessarily mean that the decision to marry was made freely.
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decision → say → ?
"A 15-, 16- or 17-year-old who has been pressured and coached by family members may tell a judge that she consents because refusing could expose her to punishment or violence at home," she says.
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she → pressure → home
This is especially troubling, Swegman says, when pregnancy, potential evidence of sexual abuse, is treated as justification for allowing the marriage to proceed.
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marriage → say → justification
"A child is coming before your court pregnant by an adult person — that should be a red flag for statutory rape, not a green light for marriage," she says.
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she → come → marriage
Although the proposed bill has won support from many child-marriage advocates, others have questioned whether its provisions go far enough and warn of possible unintended consequences that it has overlooked.
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it → propose → that
"If I could heart a provision of this bill, it would be [the proposal] to provide financial incentive to states that have banned child marriage — that I can get behind," says Reiss.
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Reiss → heart → that
"While I applaud Congress for introducing and considering legislation to combat child marriage at the federal level, I am appalled that two sections of the Child Marriage Prevention Act would make a mockery of the bill's title."
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sections → applaud → title
Section 6, she says, would provide federal grants to states to "study" child marriage instead of banning it.
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she → say → it
"If states are given money to examine something that's a human rights violation instead of banning it outright, it would be devastating," says Reiss, who says she was forced to marry at age 19.
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she → give → age
Section 10 would allow some minors as young as 16, whether in the United States or abroad, to qualify for a U.S. spousal visa under certain circumstances.
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minors → allow → circumstances
This would actually encourage a particularly heinous form of child marriage, says Reiss: the trafficking of minors to the U.S. under the guise of marriage, and it would discourage U.S. states from setting their marriage age at 18, no exceptions.
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it → encourage → 18
"If the bill were amended to set the spousal visa age at 18, it would be a 'game-changer' by sending a clear message to states and halting legal trafficking," she says.
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she → amend → trafficking
…and 43 more, not listed.
