Servile marriage 2012, para. 61

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There are several practices in which girls are forced into marriage under the guise of religious rites. For example, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has noted the existence in India of devadasi, whereby a girl, usually a Dalit, is forced to marry a deity and forced to have sex with members of the temple (CERD/C/IND/CO/19, para. 18). The Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination have addressed the deuki system in Nepal, under which girls may be offered to deities by their families or by wealthy people who buy girls from their parents to be granted wishes or heavenly favours. The girl is then called a deuki and engages in prostitution (CRC/C/15/Add.261, para. 67, and CEDAW/C/NPL/CO/4-5, para. 17).
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
  • Equality & Inclusion
  • Harmful Practices
Person(s) affected
  • Girls
Year
2012
Paragraph type
Other
Paragraph number
61