THE HONORABLE ANN RICHARD: Thank you, Chairman Rubio,
Ranking Member Boxer, and other members
of the Committee for convening this important hearing
on the plight of millions of girls
around the world who are subjected
to early and forced marriage.
And I just want to say, Senator Rubio, Senator Boxer,
Senator Gardner, and also for Senator Durbin,
we are very well aware how busy and compressed
the Senate schedule is.
And it is so heartening for all of us
that you are carving out time to talk about this issue,
just right now.
It really just speaks volumes about how much you care.
And it really is a morale boost for us.
So thank you very much.
Ambassador Russell has outlined the scope of the problem.
I want to focus my remarks on early and forced marriage
among people who are refugees, internally displaced,
or stateless.
As you know, my Bureau aids refugees and others
uprooted by conflicts and crises.
Thanks to the U.S. Congress, we are
funded to provide assistance around the world in hot spots
and crisis zones to bring relief to people who suffer.
And as part of this, we see time and time again
how these emergencies exacerbate the threat
of early and forced marriage.
Not only in the war zones, but unfortunately also
in the places where families seek safety and take refuge.
Boko Haram and ISIL outraged the world
by enslaving girls and forcing them into marriage.
But these are not the only places where
abuses are being perpetrated.
Tragedies also unfold everyday around the globe
as combatants in conflicts use attacks on women and girls
to terrorize, subjugate, and scatter innocent civilians.
Families forced to flee may splinter.
Some lose members through death or separation,
including losing adult men, who are the traditional heads
of households.
Families also lose their livelihoods, their dignity,
and their legal and social status.
Instead of being able to work, they must rely on aid.
Many find themselves living in poverty, in the close quarters
of slums or tents, feeling adrift,
uncertain about their fate, and understandably,
fearful for their future.
Having escaped war, at this point,
they ought to be able to breathe a sigh of relief
and resume normal life.
But life in exile is not normal, and regrettably, it
is not always safe.
So in the chaotic background to these situations,
parents may feel that they must do whatever
it takes to safeguard their daughter's reputations
and their family's honor.
And families may be afraid of what
will happen to their young, unmarried daughters
as they flee, and find themselves
in these new, unfamiliar environments.
So early and forced marriage becomes
a so-called negative coping strategy.
Syrian refugees in Jordan point to worries over safety
and sexual harassment as reasons for arranging marriages
for their young daughters.
Some parents also hope marrying a local man will help them stay
in the host country legally.
Families marry off daughters because they're
running out of money.
In some cultures, families see their daughters
as a burden, one that grows heavier
when there are no opportunities for further education or work.
And that is especially true when the family is struggling
to put food on the table.
And some families see early and forced marriage as preferable
to other alternatives open to girls
with no other source of income.
For all these reasons, more girls are forced into marriage.
After two years in exile in Jordan,
the rate of child marriages among Syrian girls
there was twice the pre-war Syrian average.
Before the war, about 13% of Syrian girls under 18
were married.
But by 2013, the share of married girls among refugee
families jumped to one in four.
And nearly half of those girls married
men at least a decade older than they are.
Even though parents may think they are shielding
their daughters from abuse and sexual assault,
early and forced marriage can have the opposite effect.
Girls married young, especially those
married to much older men, are more
likely to suffer physical and emotional abuse
and sexual violence than unmarried girls.
I'm conscious of the time, so I trust
you'll put my written remarks into the record.
And what it goes on to talk about
is that it's physically dangerous for girls
to become young mothers.
And it's dangerous for their own bodies.
And it's not good for the health of their babies.
And then this, in a way, is taking
the scourge of child marriage, and passing it
on to another generation.
And there's a similar sort of passage
to the next generation that happens
in terms of legal documentation, statelessness.
If a girl is too young to be married,
if legally she shouldn't be married,
if she's living in uncertain situation,
her baby may not get registered, and may not
have a birth certificate.
And this can provide problems then
for the rest of their lives.
And then our testimony goes on to talk about the remedies.
How we need to strengthen laws against
early and forced marriage.
How we have to make it easier to document marriages and births.
How the United States is co-sponsoring--
did co-sponsor at the U.N. Human Rights Council resolution
on the right to a nationality, and particularly
a women's equal nationality rights,
which is so important in terms of helping women
around the world.
We are also supporting UNHCR's global campaign
to end statelessness within the next decade.
Kathy's already mentioned the U.S. Global strategy
to empower adolescent girls.
And certainly, we're really putting a big focus all year,
this year, on trying to get more girls educated.
More kids in school, generally.
More refugee children in school, and especially, refugee girls.
I would love to also draw your attention to the Safe
From the Start initiative that was
launched around this time of year in 2013.
This is the third year now that it has existed.
And it's to not just respond to bad things happening
to women and girls overseas, but to prevent them
from happening in the first place.
And this is where U.S. Leadership has the potential
to really make a big difference.
And then I have a couple of examples in here from overseas.
Next week, at the U.N. General Assembly,
we'll be doing a number of things
that are very related to this.
One is the call to action on protection
from gender-based violence and emergencies.
There's an annual meeting that will be held.
It will be chaired by Sweden this year, but in the past
it's been chaired by the U.S. and we are very much a partner
with the Swedes in doing this.
And also the President's-- has organized and will be holding
a leader's summit on refugees.
A piece of that is to encourage countries
that host refugees to allow more children to go to school,
and to allow more countries to permit refugees to work.
And both of those are potential solutions
to this problem of refugees feeling
they have no alternative but to marry off their daughter.