Forced Marriage & Free Partner Choice

Forced marriage is a life-changing reality for many of many women and girls. It is a practice rooted more in tradition than religious custom and one that spans the globe but more present in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The UNO views forced marriage as a form of human rights abuse, since it violates the principle of the freedom and autonomy of individual states that a person's right to choose a spouse and enter freely into marriage is central to his/her life and dignity, and his/her equality as a human being.

The impacts are far reaching – exposure to domestic violence, slavery, sexual abuse, increased maternal death, infant health risks, deprivation of future and freedom, threats of abandonment and divorce, honour killings, acid attacks, human trafficking etc.

According to UNICEF, worldwide more than 650 million women alive today were married as children. Every year at least 12 million girls…