The Honorable Councilmember Brooke Pinto
Chair, Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety
Council of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20004
Good afternoon councilmembers and thank you for your time,
My name is Maniza Habib. I am a resident of Washington D.C., a relative to survivors of child marriage, and a sexual and reproductive health researcher at the Population Institute, a D.C.-based non-profit that analyzes policy and advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights and services both domestically and internationally.
I stand in full support of the Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act to ban child marriage in our city, and I am here to emphasize the urgent need for this law.
Too often, we hear misconceptions that harmful gender-based practices such as child marriage does not touch the lives of Americans. I recently co-authored a publication entitled, “Behind Closed Doors: Exposing Harmful Gender-Based Practices in the United States”, that reveals the deep and often hidden impacts of gender-based harm, including child marriage. Child marriage is a human rights violation that transcends borders and communities, and we have a responsibility to address it. This practice, while sometimes viewed as foreign or archaic, continues to affect individuals here in the United States, in our own communities, and in our city – all legally.
Child, early, and forced marriage is not just a violation of basic human rights; it has long-lasting, life-threatening consequences for women, girls, and the broader community. It is a serious population health issue. It is a potential entry point into a cycle of poverty, a way to control a girl’s sexuality and bodily autonomy, a path to increased domestic violence and reproductive coercion, and a denial of freedom and independence.
Child marriage impedes an individual’s bodily autonomy. Setting a minimum age of consent for marriage does not restrict the sexual and reproductive rights of young people. It is still equally important that young people have access to a full range of sexual health and reproductive services and resources, as well as protection from entering legal contracts that they may not have agreed to and cannot get out of, which may very well restrict their ability to access sexual health services in the first place.
Despite recent reforms across the country, loopholes and exceptions have led to thousands of minors being married, often with parental or judicial consent. In fact, between 2000 and 2018, an estimated 300,000 minors were married in the United States, most of them young girls married to adult men. Washington D.C. is not immune. From 2020 to 2023, there was an increase from two to fifteen minors getting married in the District. And because our neighboring states prohibit child marriage, D.C. has become even more vulnerable.
A recent report from Human Rights Watch found that U.S. states overwhelmingly fail to live up to key standards on child rights, including child marriage, as set by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We are failing our children. The United States, and specifically Washington D.C., should be an example to follow and therefore we need to pass this legislation.
Child marriage is not welcome in Washington D.C. It is a form of gender-based violence that must end. We must listen to those who are affected the most—survivors and those at risk—and take decisive action to protect them. While awareness and education programs are essential, they are not enough on their own. We need clear, strong laws that reflect our collective stance against this practice. There is a severe lack of uniformity in laws across the United States regarding child marriage, but we must add the Nation’s capital to the states that stand against it.
The time to act is now! I urge you to support the Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act to set a minimum age of consent to marriage in the District of Columbia to 18, with no exceptions.
Let us set an example by ensuring that all minors are protected from entering harmful and exploitative marriages, and let us prioritize their right to safety, autonomy, and a future free from harm.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Maniza Habib
1 Habib, M., et. al. 2024. Behind closed doors: Exposing and addressing harmful gender-based practices in the United States. Population Institute. https://www.populationinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PI-Behind-Closed-Door-REPORT_FINAL.pdf.
2 National Forced Marriage Working Group. 2019. Framework for addressing forced marriage in the U.S. national action plan to end gender-based violence. Falls Church, VA: Justice Center.
3 Tahirih Justice Center. 2024. Following new dc council legislation and Tahirih Justice Center report, could Washington, DC become 14th locale in us to ban child marriage, without exception?. https://www.tahirih.org/news/following-new-dc-council-legislation-and-tahirih-justice-center-report-could-washington-dc-become-14th-locale-in-us-to-ban-child-marriage-without-exception/#:~:text=The%20Child%20Marriage%20Prohibition%20Amendment%20Act%20would%20set%20a%20minimum,co%2Dsponsored%20by%20two%20others.
4 King-Guffey, C. 2023. How Do US States Measure Up on Child Rights?. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/feature/2022/09/13/how-dostates-measure-up-child-rights.
5 Tahirih Justice Center, Forced Marriage Initiative. 2023. The national movement to end child marriage. Falls Church, VA: Tahirih Justice Center.