We are disappointed to report that the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (S. 987) was defeated in the House of Representatives on December 16th by a vote of 241—166 (because of the way the bill was brought for a vote, it required a two-thirds majority to pass). Tahirih will be re-grouping with other coalition members after the new Congress convenes and will continue to try to make progress on this critical issue. Thank you for your support and interest.
Every day, girls as young as eight or nine are forced to marry men who are often decades older. Worldwide, an estimated 60 million girls in developing countries are married under the age of 18. Over 100 million girls will be married as children over the next decade. Child brides are more likely to experience violence, run a very high risk of complications in pregnancy and childbirth (the leading cause of death for girls 15-19), and are often unable to continue their education—condemning many to a life sentence of poverty and pain.
BREAKING NEWS: Tahirih applauds the Senate’s unanimous passage of this vital bill on Dec. 1st—but in order to become law, the House must also pass it before Congress adjourns, and the current session will end within days. Please contact your Representative TODAY!
The bipartisan International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (S. 987; H.R. 2103), introduced by lead sponsors Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN) seeks to increase the effectiveness of current US development investments by eliminating the harmful practice of child marriage. The United States invests more than $450 million each year in development programs that are consistently undermined by child marriage. Specifically the bill would:
This bill, which has unprecedented support in both the Senate (over 40 co-sponsors) and House (over 100 co-sponsors), is poised to make history as the first legislation Congress has ever passed on child marriage—and more importantly, it would make a critical, life-saving difference to millions of girls around the world.
If the bill does not pass the House soon, we risk losing vital strategic ground and having to start over in the next session of Congress. Your 2-minute call or quick email could make the critical difference!
Suggested Script:
Call Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or find your Representative’s contact info through www.house.gov.
Photography by Sergio Pessolano
Tahirih is a long-standing supporter of The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA), groundbreaking bipartisan legislation that will dedicate US resources and leadership to fight violence against women worldwide. (For detailed information about I-VAWA, click here.)
I-VAWA will likely be taken up by the Senate in the next few weeks—with the August recess, the upcoming elections, [...]
For many years, the Tahirih Justice Center has been a member of a broad-based national coalition urging United States ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Tahirih is participating in a “week of action” this week (July 5-9) to mobilize grassroots support for this important human rights [...]
Read more...Violence against women is a human rights violation and a worldwide pandemic—approximately one out of every three women worldwide is beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. You can join Tahirih and take part in this international campaign against gender violence by urging your Senator and Representative in Congress to co-sponsor the [...]
Read more...The nation’s highest immigration court, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), recently issued a disturbing decision (Matter of A-T-) denying the request for asylum of a young woman who was subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) as a child and who fears a forced marriage if she is returned to Mali. The Tahirih Justice Center [...]
Read more...In honor of International Women’s Day, and to help fight violence against women and girls around the world, please call today to urge your Senator to co-sponsor the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA).
This bipartisan bill, introduced by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Sen. [...]
Please Vote Yes on SB 441
Maria ’s boss at her worksite pressured her repeatedly to have sex with him. She always said no, but his persistence was frightening. Maria told her boss’s supervisor, but he did nothing to help. In fact, things got worse, as the harassment turned into stalking and then one day, her [...]
Hear Voices of Courage
 |
 |
 |
