Bill Text: IA HF696 | 2021-2022 | 89th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the establishment of a study committee on child marriage.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-25 - Introduced, referred to Public Safety. H.J. 553. [HF696 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2021-HF696-Introduced.html
House
File
696
-
Introduced
HOUSE
FILE
696
BY
ABDUL-SAMAD
,
EHLERT
,
DONAHUE
,
and
McCONKEY
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
the
establishment
of
a
study
committee
on
1
child
marriage.
2
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
3
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696
Section
1.
MULTIDEPARTMENTAL
STUDY
COMMITTEE
ON
CHILD
1
MARRIAGE.
2
1.
The
department
of
human
services,
the
department
3
of
public
safety,
and
the
department
of
justice
shall
4
cooperatively
establish
a
study
committee
on
child
marriage.
5
2.
The
study
committee
shall
do
all
of
the
following:
6
a.
Review
the
prevalence
of
child
marriage
in
the
state,
in
7
the
United
States,
and
globally
to
determine
trends,
causes,
8
and
the
impacts
of
child
marriage.
9
b.
Review
the
specific
social
and
economic
underpinnings
of
10
child
marriage
including
but
not
limited
to
gender
inequality,
11
cultural
tradition,
poverty,
and
economic
or
social
insecurity,
12
and
the
impacts
of
child
marriage
including
but
not
limited
13
to
educational
attainment;
financial
stability
and
earnings;
14
physical,
reproductive,
and
mental
health
including
maternal
15
morbidity
and
mortality;
violence,
coercion
including
16
reproductive
coercion,
and
physical,
sexual,
emotional,
and
17
other
forms
of
abuse;
the
likelihood
of
divorce;
and
the
18
broader
impacts
of
intergenerational
and
societal
costs
and
19
consequences.
20
c.
Review
existing
laws
and
policies
that
reinforce
child
21
marriage
as
a
legally
viable
alternative
to
criminal
liability,
22
including
those
relating
to
human
trafficking,
coercion,
23
exploitation,
and
statutory
rape.
24
d.
Determine
if
data
relating
to
child
marriage
in
the
state
25
is
sufficient
to
provide
a
clear
basis
for
addressing
child
26
marriage,
and
if
not,
what
additional
data
is
needed.
27
e.
Make
recommendations
regarding
but
not
limited
to
28
whether
child
marriage
should
be
eliminated
in
the
state
29
without
exception;
and
the
strategies
that
should
be
employed
30
to
delay
or
prevent
child
marriage
including
but
not
limited
31
to
empowering
girls
with
information,
skills,
and
support
32
networks;
providing
economic
support
and
incentives
to
girls
33
and
their
families;
educating
parents
and
family
members;
34
enhancing
girls’
access
to
high-quality
education;
and
35
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encouraging
supportive
laws
and
policies
to
end
child
marriage
1
and
meet
the
needs
of
married
children.
2
3.
The
study
committee
shall
involve
input
from
a
3
multidisciplinary
group
of
individuals
who
possess
knowledge
4
and
expertise
related
to
child
marriage,
child
development,
5
child
protection,
maternal
health,
domestic
violence,
mental
6
health,
social
work,
education,
law,
juvenile
justice,
human
7
trafficking,
law
enforcement,
and
other
appropriate
stakeholder
8
interests.
9
4.
For
the
purposes
of
this
section,
“child
marriage”
10
means
any
marriage
in
which
at
least
one
of
the
parties
is
11
under
eighteen
years
of
age,
and
includes
a
forced
or
coerced
12
marriage
in
which
one
or
both
parties
have
not
expressed,
or
do
13
not
have
the
capacity
to
express,
their
full
and
free
consent
14
to
the
marriage.
15
5.
The
task
force
shall
submit
a
report
of
its
findings
and
16
recommendations
to
the
governor
and
the
general
assembly
by
17
December
1,
2021.
18
EXPLANATION
19
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
20
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
21
This
bill
requires
the
department
of
human
services,
the
22
department
of
public
safety,
and
the
department
of
justice
to
23
cooperatively
establish
a
study
committee
on
child
marriage.
24
The
bill
specifies
the
duties
of
the
task
force
including
25
reviewing
the
prevalence
of
child
marriage
in
the
state,
in
26
the
United
States,
and
globally
to
determine
trends,
causes,
27
and
the
impacts
of
child
marriage
including
impacts
on
the
28
parties
and
more
broadly
on
society;
reviewing
existing
laws
29
and
policies
that
reinforce
child
marriage
as
a
legally
viable
30
alternative
to
criminal
liability;
determining
if
sufficient
31
data
on
child
marriage
in
the
state
exists
to
provide
a
clear
32
basis
for
addressing
child
marriage;
and
making
recommendations
33
regarding
but
not
limited
to
whether
child
marriage
should
be
34
eliminated
in
the
state
without
exception,
and
the
strategies
35
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H.F.
696
that
should
be
employed
to
delay
or
prevent
child
marriage.
1
The
study
committee
shall
involve
input
from
a
2
multidisciplinary
group
of
individuals
who
possess
knowledge
3
and
expertise
in
various
areas.
The
bill
provides
a
definition
4
of
“child
marriage”
for
the
purposes
of
the
bill
and
requires
5
the
task
force
to
submit
a
report
of
its
findings
and
6
recommendations
to
the
governor
and
the
general
assembly
by
7
December
1,
2021.
8
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