Senate Panel Approves Bills to Stop Child Marriage, Trafficking
On September 21, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed en bloc, by voice vote, the Child Protection Compact Act (S. 3184) and the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (S. 987). |
Sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), S. 3184 would authorize $30 million annually for FY2011-2013 to allow the Untied States to assist eligible countries and entities (regional and local governments, as well as nongovernmental organizations) to enter into child protection compacts that establish a three-year plan to “protect and rescue children subjected to severe forms of trafficking or sexual exploitation.” The bill would allow grants awarded to the eligible countries or entities to be used to train anti-trafficking police and investigators; build the capacity of NGOs to educate vulnerable populations; create “victim-friendly” courts; and develop appropriate care facilities and services for rescued victims, among other provisions.
Child Marriage
Sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), the measure would authorize “such sums as may be necessary” for FY2010-2014 to provide assistance to developing countries to “prevent the incidence of child marriage…and to promote the educational, health, economic, social, and legal empowerment of girls and women.”
In providing assistance, priority would be given to areas or regions of the world where 15 percent of girls under age 15 or 40 percent of girls under age 18 are married. The assistance would be integrated into existing U.S. programs and would include, among other provisions, supporting community-based activities to encourage community members to address beliefs and practices that encourage child marriage; enrolling girls in primary and secondary school; reducing education fees and enhancing “safe and supportive conditions” in schools that meet the needs of girls; ensuring health care and proper nutrition for adolescent girls; and support legal literacy programs at the community level.
The President, through the State Department, would be required to develop a “multi-year strategy to prevent child marriage in developing countries and promote the empowerment of girls at risk of child marriage…by addressing the needs, vulnerabilities, and potential of girls under age 18.”
From Women's Policy Inc.
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