Servile marriage 2012, para. 68

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Paragraph text: Upon the recommendation of the Commission on Human Rights, a report on abolishing slavery and its contemporary forms was published in 2002 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In the report, it is stated that women who leave their families to marry a man in a foreign country that they have not previously visited are vulnerable to a wide range of forms of exploitation prohibited by existing international standards. The involvement of commercial agents in organizing marriages does not in itself appear to be unacceptable, but if the agent makes payments to the bride's parents or others, the arrangement would come close to infringing the prohibition on the sale of women for marriage in the Supplementary Slavery Convention. As brides in a foreign country, the women's vulnerability is increased by the fact that they have no family or friends to support them if they require assistance. In addition, in some countries obtaining the right to residency as a spouse is a long, drawn-out process that may take years. A wife who leaves her husband is unable to seek assistance for fear of deportation or imprisonment.

Body: Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences

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Person(s) affected