<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"When Texas law enforcement raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch this spring, they found that at least 31 girls--some as young as 14--had been forced into marriage and had children or were pregnant. The media devoured the story, and it was shocking, but had journalists looked beyond our borders, they would have discovered that child marriage is common in parts of Africa, South Asia and Latin America. In fact, one in seven girls in all developing countries except China marries before she&amp;#x27;s 15. Tragically most child brides lead depressingly similar lives. A girl is typically married to a much older man she may not have even met. She must drop out of school and faces grave health threats. &amp;quot;Young brides are at high risk of HIV/AIDS because their husbands often have multiple partners,&amp;quot; says Adrienne Germain, president of the International Women&amp;#x27;s Health Coalition. Many child brides are victims of domestic violence, and complications from pregnancy is the top killer of adolescent girls in developing countries. Sadly, this practice is often an act of economic survival. &amp;quot;Parents think girls need to be married to have good lives,&amp;quot; says Margaret E. Greene, a director at the International Center for Research on Women. Putting an end to child marriage requires both humanitarian efforts and legislative change. Urge congressional representatives from your state to support the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act, introduced by Representative Betty McCollum (D-Minn.). (Visit glamour.com/news to see a sample letter.) &amp;quot;Whether American, Ethiopian or Nicaraguan,&amp;quot; says McCollum, &amp;quot;girls deserve the right to enter adulthood and decide for themselves who their husband will be.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2008/06/tragedy-of-child-marriage>