Imagine a young girl with her whole life ahead of her. She has dreams of an education, a career and eventually, a happy family. Instead, she soon will be getting married — likely to a man more than twice her age or older. Approximately 60 million girls around the world are married by the age of 17. By forcing a girl into premature adulthood, early marriage thwarts her chances to get an education, endangers her health and cuts short her personal growth and development.
CARE, which works with families and communities to reduce the prevalence of child marriage throughout the developing world, is encouraging the United States to do its part to prevent child marriage by passing the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009. This legislation recognizes child marriage as a human rights violation and requires the United States to develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent these marriages and empower young girls.
A couple of weeks ago almost two-thirds of Congress voted to send child marriage prevention legislation to the Senate. This landmark vote is an early victory in the effort to advance the rights of girls everywhere, but the fight is not over yet. Send an email to your Senator encouraging them to stand up for girls’ rights. This simple action can help stop the practice that presses 25,000 girls into marriage every day!
Ask your Senator to stand with millions of other supporters in the United States by becoming a co-sponsor of the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009 (S.987).
Thursday, June 25, 2009
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