In the next ten years, 100 million girls will be married off against their consent before the age of 18. Their chance of dying in childbirth is five times those aged 20-24, and their risk of contracting HIV is significantly high. That's what the law of averages say. Their plight could have been better, even so marginally, had the US House of Representatives passed a particular Bill on Thursday night.
The US State Department could have helped fight child marriage by expanding investments in other countries to empower girls and promote community understanding about the harmful impact of child marriage. But the Republicans in the House had their way and blocked the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act, which recognised child marriage as a violation of human rights for girls regardless of country of origin.
The US Senate had earlier done its bit by passing the Bill last week. But hours before the vote on Thursday, Republicans circulated a memo to so-called pro-life members alleging that the Bill could fund abortions and use child marriage “to overturn pro-life laws.” When the time came for the vote, many of the Bill's “pro-life” supporters in both parties reneged. Even co-sponsors of the corresponding House bill like Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Lee Terry (R-Nebraska), voted against it. The memo also reiterated concerns over the bill's cost. Now, the price for this will be borne by hapless young girls worldwide.
On September 21, the legislation had been passed unanimously by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and then unanimously by the full Senate as well. The House of Representatives voted on the Bill using a procedure called suspension, which requires the support of two thirds of those present for it to pass. By a vote of 241 in favour and 166 opposed against, the Bill failed as it did not gather the requisite support.
Democrat Senator Dick Durbin, who sponsored the Bill, gave vent to his ire that night itself, “The action on the House floor stopping the Child Marriage bill tonight will endanger the lives of millions of women and girls around the world. These young girls, enslaved in marriage, will be brutalised and many will die when their young bodies are torn apart while giving birth. Those who voted to continue this barbaric practice brought shame to Capitol Hill.”
It will be beyond the myopic perspectives of the anti-abortionist to realise the damage that they have willy-nilly wreaked on young girls worldwide by preventing the US towards providing more financial support for women's and girls' education, health, economic and legal status across the globe.
The Bill's leade sponsor Representative Betty McCollum, had said last year, “It is deeply troubling that girls, little girls only nine or ten years old, are being given as child brides to men sometimes decades older, putting these girls at greater risk of contracting HIV, dying in childbirth, delivering under-weight babies or living in extreme poverty. The US invests billions of dollars to improve the lives of people in the poorest countries. Child marriage is a horrific human rights violation that undermines that investment.”
The Bill sought to authorise US foreign assistance funding over five years to prevent child marriage and provide educational and economic opportunities to girls in the developing world. The policy would help ensure that the fundamental human rights of girls are protected by:
- Promoting community understanding of the practice's harmful impact;
- Requiring the State Department to report on this harmful practice in its annual Human Rights Report;
- Scaling-up community-based efforts to offer viable alternatives to early marriage.
Last week, former president of Ireland Mary Robinson and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu wrote in The Washington Post, praising the US. “This Act illustrates how support for securing a just and healthy life for every woman and girl transcends politics.” Unfortunately, Robinson and Tutu had jumped the gun. At the end of the day, it was shortsightedness and petty politics that held sway.
Child marriage is a despicable, inhuman practice. It is a form of violence perpetrated on children. But Republicans think otherwise. Women and children, the world over, should never forgive them.
