Forced marriages Department of gender study Univesty Of Punjab Lahore

4. Forced marriage is a marriage in which
one or both of the parties is married
without his or her consent or against his
or her will.
Considered to be domestic violence.
May be between children, a child and an
adult, or between adults.

5.  Forced marriage is still practiced in various
cultures across the world, particularly in parts
of South Asia and Africa.
 From an international perspective forced marriage
is considered a form of trafficking in persons and
is a severe human rights violation.
 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states
that a woman's right to choose a spouse and enter
freely into marriage is central to her life
and dignity, and equality as a human being.

6. Being under duress includes feeling both
physical and emotional pressure.
Victims of forced marriages often
experience physical violence, rape,
abduction, torture, false imprisonment
and enslavement, sexual abuse, mental
and emotional abuse, and at times,
murder.

7. Watta
satta
Quranic
marriage
swaravani
Child
marriage

8.  Literally means give-take.
 Form of bride exchange that is common in
Pakistan and Afghanistan.
 Involves the simultaneous marriage of a
brother-sister pair from two households.
 Typically endogamous in Pakistan.
 Cited as a cause of low domestic violence in
some families.

9.  In rural parts of northwest and west Pakistan, and its
tribal regions, watta satta accounts for over 30% of all
marriages.
 Over 50% of watta satta marriages are within the same
village, on a geographical level.
 Over three out of four women in watta satta marriage
are married to a blood relative, mostly first-cousins
with a preference for the paternal side.
 In Islamic communities of Sudan and Mali, bride
exchange between two families has also been
observed.

10. It is locally called falen-ni-falen.
In particular, if there is a sufficiently
large age gap between the two couples
involved in the watta satta, the second
couple may notyet be married and,
possibly, not even born.

11. In rural parts of Pakistan,
watta satta accounts for
over 30% of all marriages
75% marriages involving
blood relatives
90% of the marriages
occurring within the
same village

12.  Formal marriage or informal union entered into
by an individual before reaching the age of 18.
 Each year 15 million girls are married before
the age of 18.
 28 girls every minute, married off too soon,
endangering their personal development and
wellbeing.
 Child marriage is a human rights violation that
we must end to achieve a fairer future for all.

13.  Legally prescribed marriageable age in some
jurisdictions is below 18 years.
 Especially in the case of girls and even when
the age is set at 18 years, many jurisdictions
permit earlier marriage with parental consent
or in special circumstances, such as teenage
pregnancy.
 Affects both boys and girls.
 Majority of those affected are girls, most of
whom are in poor socioeconomic situations.

14.  In many cases, only one marriage-partner is a
child, usually the female.
 Today, child marriage is still fairly widespread in
developing countries, such as parts of
Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, West
Asia, Latin America, and Oceania.
 Nigeria, Chad, Bangladesh, Mali and Ethiopia
were the countries with child marriage rates
greater than 20% below the age of 15, according to
2003-2009 survey.

15.  More than 30% of today’s women were
married before their 18th birthday.
 If there is no reduction in child marriage, an
additional 1.2 billion girls will be married by
2050.
 Some child brides are as young as eight or
nine.
 Most adolescent pregnancies (90%) take place
within marriage.

16.  Poverty.
 Bride price
 Dowry
 Cultural traditions
 Laws that allow child marriages
 Religious and social pressures
 Regional customs
 Fear of remaining unmarried
 Illiteracy

17. The Convention on the Rights of the Child are
designed to guarantee certain individual rights
which are abused by early marriage. Rights
undetermined or lost by children forced to marry
early are:
 The right to an education.
 The right to be protected from physical and
mental violence, injury or abuse,
including sexual abuse, rape and sexual
exploitation.
 The right to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of health.

18.  The right to rest and leisure, and to
participate freely in cultural life.
 The right to not be separated from parents
against the child's will.
 The right to protection against all forms of
exploitation affecting any aspect of the
child’s welfare.
 The right to eventual employment.

19. The United Nations Population
Fund stated the following:
"In 2010, 158 countries reported that 18 years was the
minimum legal age for marriage for women without parental
consent or approval by a pertinent authority. However, in 146
countries, state or customary law allows girls younger than
18 to marry with the consent of parents or other authorities;
in 52 countries, girls under age 15 can marry with parental
consent. In contrast, 18 is the legal age for marriage without
consent among males in 180 countries. Additionally, in 105
countries, boys can marry with the consent of a parent or a
pertinent authority, and in 23 countries, boys under age 15
can marry with parental consent."

20. Under the Criminal Code Act,
Marriage under age of 16 years
reads:
Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a
marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the
persons being married is under the age of 16
years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five
years.
Civil Marriage Act also states:
The No person who is under the age of 16
years may contract marriage.

21. Pakistan’s Child Marriage
Restraint Act (CMRA) 1929
sets the legal age for
marriage to 16 for women
and 18 for men.

22. India
(47%)
Pakistan
(42%)
Bangla
desh
(64%)
Chad
(72%)
Nigeria
(75%)
Guinea
(63%)

23. Article.16: States parties shall take all
appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against woman in all matters
relating to marriage and family relations and in
particular shall ensure, on a basis of equally of
men and women:
 1- The same right to enter into marriage.
 2- The same right freely to choose a spouse
and to enter into marriage only with their
free and full consent.
 3- The same right and responsibilities during
marriage and its dissolution.

24.  Pakistan is a party to the CEDAW which
categorically states that consent of
individuals is obligatory of the marriage
purpose. It is pertinent to mention that the
consent of the individual should be “full and
free” as stated in sub-clause.
 But pathetically there is no concept of
consent or individual’s will in the forced
marriage practice. In many cases, the girl to
be given over is a minor, which is a gross
violation of fundamental Human Rights.

25.  It is a Pashto word derived from vanay which
means blood.
 Young girls are forcibly married as part of
punishment for a crime committed by her
male relatives.
 A form of arranged child marriage, and the
result of punishment decided by a council of
tribal elders named jirga.
 Became illegal in Pakistan in 2005 or 2011 at
the latest however, the practice continues

26.  Vani is also known as wanni,sak, swara, and
Sangchatti in different regional languages of
Pakistan.
 Some claim Vani can be avoided if the clan
of the girl agrees to pay money, called Deet.
 The jirga’s verdict included Vani,that is an
order that the 13 girls must be handed over
as wives to members of opposing group, for a
crime committed by one man who could not
be found for the trial.

27.  It is tied to blood feuds among the different tribes
and clans where young girls are forcibly married to
members of different clans in order to resolve the
feuds.
 Once a girl is given away as swara, there is little
chance of a happy life for her for there is no
honour for such girls.
 She is taunted at every moment and is cursed for
being a swara.
 She lives a life worse even than a maid servant.
 The innocent swara has to bear the brunt of a crime
she has never committed for the rest of her life.

28.  The swara agrees to going to the enemy's house in a bid to
secure the lives of the male members of her family.
 Once a girl is given away as swara, there is little chance of
a happy life for her for there is no honour for such girls.
 The treatment meted out to the swara at her "new house"
is horrifying.
 She is taunted at every moment and is cursed for being a
swara.
 She lives a life worse even than a maid servant.
 There have been reports of the swara victim committing
suicide in order to escape the wrath of her in-laws.

29.  We believe that education is crucial to reducing
the incidence of early and forced marriage.
 This means improving access to quality
education for girls, and also educating the wider
community to change the social norms that
enable forced marriage to continue.
 We work to raise awareness of girls’ rights at
community, national and global levels, striving to
change both legislation and attitudes.
 The issues surrounding forced marriage are
complex and can’t be eradicated overnight, but
with your support we can work to end the misery
of millions of girls across the world.