This month, when the United Nations Human Rights Committee reviews the United States’ commitment to human and political rights, we want to make sure it knows how far behind this country is in stopping the abuse that is child marriage.
Every several years, all U.N. Member States submit a periodic report to the U.N. Human Rights Committee summarizing their implementation of the rights laid out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty adopted in 1966. These reports are reviewed through an interactive discussion between the State under review and other U.N. Member States, resulting in an “outcome report” and recommendations for improvement. As part of of this process, the Committee considers joint submissions written by stakeholders including NGOs, national human rights institutions, human rights defenders, academic institutions and research institutes.
Together with Equality Now, the ERA Coalition, the US End FGM/C Network and the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights, we have written a joint submission for the Committee, emphasizing the United States’ failure to end child marriage.
In addition to the U.S.’s negligence regarding child marriage, our submission notes other major failings pertaining to the ICCPR, including the lack of an explicit right to equality on the basis of sex, the lack of comprehensive protections against female genital mutilation and the continued prevalence of online sexual exploitation and abuse.
It’s time for the United States to be held accountable.
Read the full joint submission here.