This exploratory study aimed to broaden the literature on forced marriage to examine forced marriage in the United States context. The study focused on the nature and scope of forced marriage in the context of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, as well as the adequacy of service provider and criminal and civil justice system stakeholder responses to forced marriage.
Related Resources
Honoring Our Heartbeats: The IZZAT Project
Heartbeats: The IZZAT Project is a comic book and expressive arts project using illustration, writing and theatre to explore and share community stories about resilience in the face of violence and to challenge how “izzat” or “honour” has been used to rationalize violence against women. Heartbeats was created by a group of young South Asian women from Pomegranate Tree Group, a community-based organization committed to healing justice, with support from Tahirih Justice Center.
Forced Marriage in Immigrant Communities in the United States: 2011 National Survey Results, 2014
By Tahirih Justice Center
The results of a national survey to learn about the experiences of service providers encountering forced marriage cases, including agencies’ capacity to serve and identify survivors, services provided, and tactics used to coerce or keep survivors in a forced marriage.
Forced Marriage Fact Sheet, 2015
By Tahirih Justice Center
What is forced marriage? How is forced marriage different than arranged marriage? These and other common questions are answered.
Voices From the Frontline: Addressing Forced Marriage Within the United States, 2013
This study presents findings from a multi-method research study on forced marriage, the forms of abuse resulting from forced marriage, and the experiences and recommendations of frontline respondents, scholars, activists, and survivors for improving responses.
Falling Through the Cracks: How Laws Allow Child Marriage to Happen in Today’s America, 2017
By Tahirih Justice Center
A comprehensive analysis of provisions in all 50 state and Washington, D.C. that leave children more vulnerable to forced and early marriage. The report intends to provide state lawmakers and advocates in the U.S. with the information they need to pass laws that more effectively protect children from the harms of child marriage.
Child Marriage in America By the Numbers, 2017
Post-2015 Advocacy Toolkit, 2015
Developed by Girls Not Brides to support members’ post-2015 advocacy, this toolkit provides information on the post-2015 process and offers tools and templates to develop and implement an advocacy strategy calling for a target on child, early and forced marriage in the Sustainable Development Goals. It also offers a sample messaging framework on child marriage and the post-2015 agenda, as well as tips on how to effectively engage with media.
By Meredith Dank, Hanna Love, Sino Esthappan, and Janine Zweig
September 2017