International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2007 (HR 3175)

Sponsor: Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.)

Introduced July 25, 2007

Overview:
The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2007 seeks to eliminate the
harmful practice of child marriage overseas by requiring an integrated, strategic approach by the
U.S. government to prevent child marriage, establish a trust fund to prevent child marriage,
authorize funding for such a trust fund, and other related activities.

Summary of Provisions:
• Recognizes that child marriage in developing countries is a human rights violation and
undermines U.S. investments in foreign assistance to improve women’s and girls’
education, health, economic and legal status.
• Authorizes the president to provide assistance to prevent child marriage in countries that
have high rates of child marriage, with emphasis on integrating prevention programs into
existing development (basic education, economic opportunity and health) and democracy
building programs, and giving priority to scaling up and replicating successful
interventions.
• Requires that the president develop a multi-year strategy to prevent child marriage
overseas and promote the empowerment of girls – including both programmatic and
diplomatic initiatives.
• Requires the U.S. Department of State to address the status of child marriage in countries
with high rates of child marriage in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
• Establishes the Trust Fund to Prevent Child Marriage – a grant-making mechanism
available to USAID missions to support activities that prevent child marriage.
• Authorizes $25 million for each fiscal year from 2008 through 2011.

Background on Child Marriage:

• An estimated 51 million girls in the developing world under age 18 are married, a figure
that is estimated to increase by another 100 million over the next decade if present trends
continue.
• Child marriage is most common in sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South Asia and the Middle
East. In Ethiopia’s Amhara region, about half of all girls are married by age 14. Most girls
do not know their husbands before marriage, and more than two-thirds have their sexual
initiation within marriage before their first menstrual period.
• Child marriage has negative effects on girls’ health, including significantly increased risk of
maternal death, infant mortality, obstetric fistula and sexually transmitted infections such
as HIV.
• In 2005, the U.S. Department of State conducted a worldwide survey and found child
marriage to be a concern in 64 out of 182 countries.
• The United States introduced and championed a resolution to reduce the practice of child
marriage at the 2007 U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, which eventually passed
with strong support.

Congressional offices interested in cosponsoring the bill or learning more should email
Lina Choudhry (lina.choudhry@mail.house.gov) in Rep. Betty McCollum's office
or call (202) 225-6631.