The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women

violence is not our culture

Forced and early marriage deprives women and young girls of their basic human
rights. Forced marriage describes a marriage that takes place without the free or valid
consent of one or both of the partners and involves either physical or emotional duress.
Early marriage is related to forced marriage because minors are deemed incapable of
giving informed consent.1 Forced and early marriages are serious human rights
violations. The requirement for the free and informed consent of both parties to a
marriage is recognized in numerous legal instruments at international, national and local
levels. These instruments, along with all major world religions, condemn forced and
early marriages.2 Despite this opposition, only a few countries have specifically
criminalized the practice. And regardless of the existing opposition and laws, the
practices of forced and early marriage continue.

This paper provides a brief overview of forced and child marriage from an
international perspective and discusses selected international and regional standards on
this issue. It includes information about how this problem presents itself in Central and
Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (CEE/FSU) and discusses selected laws
addressing forced and child marriage from other countries.