In 2017, IANGEL joined a campaign to adopt legislation that would ban child marriage in California. As the bill was winding its way through the state legislature, to the surprise of some advocates, reproductive justice organizations declined to support it. In the end, a watered down version of the bill ultimately passed and was signed by the Governor. This led us to ponder how laws designed to support a minor’s right to self-determination work together or against each other. Thus the girls’ rights project was born: we would research the laws on child marriage, reproductive freedom, and female genital mutilation/cutting and analyze how the legal protections of a girl’s rights in one area conflict with or prevent the legal protection of a girl’s rights in another area. The goal is to determine what legal reforms would help reduce the conflicts and provide more effective protection of a girl’s human rights.
The Girls’ Rights Research Project aims to help lawyers, policymakers, and advocates better understand laws and regulations on Child Marriage, Reproductive Justice, and Female Genital Mutilation in different geographic locations and jurisdictional bodies. Since Fall 2019, students pursuing their LL.M. and J.D. degres have worked with IANGEL to write detailed research reports on these issues. The goal of this project is to create an intersectional framework with which we can take more effective advocacy and legal reform efforts.
We live in a world where women and girls still can not make their own decisions regarding sexuality and parenthood. For girls to build their futures, advocates and community organizers need access to data about the laws that protect (or fail to protect) a girl’s right to make her own decisions concerning health, sexuality, and personal autonomy.
Focus questions for this project include:
- What laws, if any, protect a girl’s right to make her own decisions about contraception, pregnancy, and abortion, without interference, coercion or compulsion?
- What laws, if any, protect a girl’s right to refuse to marry?
- What laws, if any, protect a girl’s right to avoid FGM?
- In what ways do legal protections of a girl’s rights in one area conflict with or prevent legal protection of a girl’s rights in another area? What legal reforms do you think would help reduce this conflict and provide more effective protection of a girl’s human rights?
Research is currently being conducted about the domestic and international laws in five countries in three regions: Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The regions and countries were selected based on the prevalence of child marriage and FGM in each of them. Students who have worked on this project have found it immensely rewarding. As we continue this work, we would like to express our immense gratitude for our partner, Girls Learn International, a Feminist Majority Foundation Program. The Feminist Majority Foundation is a nonprofit, founded in 1987, that focuses on women’s equality, reproductive health, and non-violence. Their feminist empowerment work is guided by research and action. The Girls Learn International Program works on educating our next generation of feminist leaders. Through this support, we have been able to provide research opportunities and look forward to sharing research findings with our greater IANGEL community.
Those interested partnering with IANGEL on the Girls’ Rights Project can reach out through our Contact Us page.
