Contact: Phuong Nguyen
(571) 249-2114
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 2, 2024
Washington, D.C. — Today marks a historic milestone in the fight against child marriage in the United States with the introduction of the Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2024. This groundbreaking federal legislation represents the first concerted effort by the United States Congress to condemn and prevent child marriage domestically.
“Girls everywhere are only as safe as the weakest law allows, and this bill acknowledges the many ways current U.S. law fails to protect girls here and abroad from this human rights abuse,” said Casey Carter Swegman, Director of Public Policy at the Tahirih Justice Center. “For years, the U.S. has focused on ending child marriage in other countries but has overlooked the issue here at home. We are grateful to Senator Dick Durbin for his steadfast support and dedication to introducing the Child Marriage Prevention Act, which tackles the issue by encouraging states to take action and updating immigration law to close loopholes that allow for the exploitation of children under the guise of marriage.”
“While the United States has long worked to address the scourge of child marriage internationally, our federal government has failed to take meaningful steps to address this issue in our own backyard. Child marriage is a significant problem domestically, and it overwhelmingly affects underage girls who are married to adult men, often with dire consequences for their life outcomes. This loss of dignity and independence is unacceptable,” said Senator Durbin. “My bill builds on the work of countless survivors and advocates across the country to end child marriage in the United States. It is a powerful statement of our priorities as a nation and something that will change the futures of hundreds of thousands of young girls if enacted.”
Child marriage remains legal in well over half of all U.S. states, with over 300,000 minors married between 2000 and 2018. Between 2007 and 2017, more than 8,500 marriage-based visa petitions involving at least one minor were approved by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with the majority involving U.S. adults seeking to bring children from abroad to the U.S. as fiancées or spouses.
The Child Marriage Prevention Act proposes bold actions to address this form of child abuse including:
- National Commission to Combat Child Marriage: Establishing a commission to study the impact of child marriage in the U.S. and provide recommendations on its elimination.
- State Task Force Grants: Creating grants for state task forces to examine child marriage and develop policy recommendations to protect individuals from child marriage and related abuses.
- Model State Statute: Instructing the Attorney General to develop a model statute prohibiting child marriage.
- Incentives for States: Authorizing increased funding for states that ban child marriage through STOP and SASP formula grants.
- Federal Government Land Ban: Prohibiting child marriage on federal government land and in federal buildings.
- Visa Regulations: Setting minimum age requirements for U.S. petitioners and foreign beneficiaries of spouse and fiancée visas to prevent children from being married solely for immigration purposes.
- Federal Impact Study: Charges the Comptroller of the United States with studying and reporting on the prevalence of child marriage within the marriage-based visa program.
The Child Marriage Prevention Act reflects a commitment to protecting children from the devastating harms of child marriage and aligns the United States with countries leading the global fight against this violation of human rights.
“I was only 14 and fresh out of foster care when my parent decided to marry me off to a 43-year-old to avoid his prosecution. I felt powerless and without a future, just one of the many children married off each year in the US—a country that boasts democracy and justice,” said Genevieve Meyer, a child marriage survivor and advocate. “Ignoring the issue of child marriage contradicts our stated values of equality. This is why I back the Child Marriage Protection Act—it’s about human rights and safeguarding our children from harm.”
“Changing this legislation would change so many lives. We would be preventing the legal laundering of children through our immigration system. We are securing the childhoods of these girls by making sure they are safe,” said Naila Amin, a survivor who was forced to marry at 13 years old to an adult man seeking a spousal visa.
“I envision a United States without child marriage, visa exploitation, abandonment, and abuse. This is precisely why Congress needs to act fast and pass The Child Marriage Prevention Act to protect girls,” said Sasha Taylor, a survivor advocate who was forced to marry when she was 15 years old.
The Tahirih Justice Center is proud to be partnering with survivors like Genevieve, Naila and Sasha to help lead the campaign to end child marriage across the nation. We are also grateful to Senator Brian Schatz and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for co-sponsoring this critical legislation.
For further comments on this topic, please email [email protected].
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The Tahirih Justice Center is a national, nonprofit organization that serves women, girls, and all immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. By amplifying the experiences of survivors, our mission is to create a world in which all people share equal rights and live in safety and with dignity.
