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With
nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the one of the
largest voluntary professional membership organizations in the
world.
USA - American Bar Association
Resolution Against Forced Marriage
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Resolution:
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AMERICAN
BAR ASSOCIATION
COMMISSION ON DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE
RESOLUTION
RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association condemns forced marriage
as a fundamental 1
human rights violation and a form of family violence and of violence
against women; 2
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial, 3 local and tribal governments to amend existing laws, or to enact new laws, to prevent forced 4 marriages in the United States or involving U.S. citizens or residents and to protect and support 5 individuals threatened by forced marriage; and 6
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges governments to
collaborate 7 with
legal, social services and advocacy organizations with expertise in forced
marriage to 8 develop
victim-centered legal remedies, and to promote training for judges,
prosecutors, law 9 enforcement,
child protection authorities, victim-witness advocates, and attorneys. 10
REPORT
Introduction
A forced marriage lacks the consent of one or both parties, and typically
involves one or more elements of force, fraud, or coercion.1 Some individuals may choose to have their
marriages arranged, asking their families to take the lead in finding their
future spouse but retaining the ultimate right to decide whether, when and whom
to marry. In a forced marriage, however, parents or other family members may
not even consult the parties as to their wishes, let alone seek their consent.
The individual to be married feels they have no meaningful say in the matter,
and that they cannot say "no" to the marriage without risking serious
consequences. Families often have mixed motivations, and family motivations may
vary widely. Their reasons may even include thinking that the marriage is in an
individual’s best interests. Regardless, the impact on an individual can be
devastating. While individuals of either gender can be a victim2, the majority are women and girls.3
1A lack
of consent can result from a lack of capacity to consent – for example, when an
individual is a minor or has a developmental disability that prevents a mature
understanding of what marriage is. See US Department of State Foreign
Affairs Manual 7 FAM 1740, US Department of State,
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86822.pdf (a forced marriage is one
in which "at least one party does not consent or is unable to give
informed consent to the marriage, and some element of duress is generally
present").
218% of
the cases handled by the United Kingdom (UK) government’s Forced Marriage Unit
(FMU) in 2013 involved male victims. See UK Forced Marriage Unit Statistics
January to December 2013, UK Forced Marriage Unit,
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291855/FMU_2013_statistics.pdf.
3An
estimated 14.2 million girls under age 18 are forced into marriage each year. See
"Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage" (UNFPA: New York, 2012),
p, 6, available at http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/MarryingTooYoung.pdf.
4The US
government considers forced marriage "a violation of basic human rights
and in the case of minors, a form of child abuse." See Forced Marriage,
US Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs,
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/emergencies/forced.html (accessed
April 24, 2014). The UK government also considers forced marriage to be "a
form of violence against women and men, domestic/child abuse and a serious
abuse of human rights." See UK Forced Marriage Unit, generally, at
https://www.gov.uk/forced-marriage. Several international instruments
underscore that there must be free and full consent to marriage. See, e.g., Universal
Declaration of Human Rights Article 16(2) and United Nations Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Article 16(1)(b), available
at http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a16 and
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm#article16.
Forced marriage often involves a parent or other family member’s abuse of
power and control over an individual to ensure that the marriage occurs.
Physical, psychological, sexual, financial and emotional abuse can be leveraged
against the individual to coerce them to marry, and domestic violence, rape,
and other harms – including serious health complications such as increased
risks in pregnancy and childbirth – can occur within the forced marriage
itself. An individual’s freedom to determine their life’s course, including
future education and employment opportunities, can also be cut short by a forced
marriage.4 ........