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Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- There is also the myth that intercourse with female persons with albinism can cure infertility, sexually transmitted infections and, in particular, HIV/AIDS. This has led to the rape and forced prostitution of women and girls with albinism, some of whom end up contracting various infections. Cases have been reported of young girls with albinism being prostituted by their family to customers who thereby expect to be cured of HIV/AIDS. It is believed that cases of this sort are underreported owing to various factors, including a pre-existing context of myth-led discrimination against persons with albinism, the stigma of reporting rape and the likelihood of further abuse. Such lack of reporting is bound to aggravate the already oppressed and disenfranchised situation of women and girls with albinism.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- In many contexts, States fail to establish and enforce a clear legal hierarchy based on the guarantees of equality and non-discrimination set forth in international human rights law and national legislation, thus helping to maintain patriarchal modes of organization and behaviours. Even when the law is independent of any religious source, it may be strongly influenced by culture, deriving from dominant ideologies linked to religion, traditional attitudes and social norms. Some States adopt national laws and regulations that restrict the rights, power and mobility of women on the basis of essentialist points of view belonging to a particular culture or religion. Conservative religious extremist movements impose strict modesty codes in order to subjugate women and girls in the name of religion, particularly in situations of political transition or conflict. For example, some branches of Islam have reintroduced forced and/or early marriage and some branches of Christianity prevent women from having access to therapeutic abortion. Religious extremism limits women's rights, including their right to health and economic activity, and they are generally subject to harsh sanctions for crimes committed against the patriarchy, such as adultery. At the international level, many States justify their reservations to articles of several human rights conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in the name of preserving their cultures and religions. Human Rights Council resolutions 16/3 on promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind and 26/11 on the protection of the family threaten to undermine international achievements in the field of human rights in the name of cultural and religious diversity.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The role of women in the family has generally been under patriarchal control in cultures and religions that subject women and girls to forced and/or early marriage and discrimination in a number of areas of family life, such as consent to enter into marriage, dowry obligations, the right to possess and manage property, sexual relations, requirements regarding modesty and freedom of movement, guardianship and custody of children, divorce and division of matrimonial assets, the punishment of adultery, the right to remarry following dissolution of the marriage or death of the husband, the status of widows and inheritance. In addition, women and girls are generally not treated equally in families with regard to the division of rights and responsibilities. Discrimination against women and girls in the family and in marriage affects all aspects of their lives.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Many girls are exposed to a wide variety of practices which are harmful to their health and well-being, such as female genital mutilation, discrimination in food allocation resulting in malnutrition and discrimination in access to professional health care. Furthermore, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy have a long-lasting impact on girls' physical integrity and mental health. Pregnancy and childbirth are together the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-old girls globally, putting them at the highest risk of dying or suffering serious lifelong injuries as a result of pregnancy. For example, up to 65 per cent of women with obstetric fistula, which is a severely disabling condition and often results in social exclusion, develop this condition as adolescents.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group found that instrumentalization and politicization of women's biological functions in many countries subjects legislation and policies regarding women's and girls' health and safety to patriarchal agendas, especially regarding reproductive and sexual health and mental health. The Working Group found manifestations in all regions of instrumentalization, taboos regarding menstruation and breastfeeding and stereotypes which result in harmful practices such as female genital mutilation or which have a negative impact on women's body image, leading to their seeking invasive cosmetic procedures.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls seeking reproductive health care in professional settings are often exposed to severe pain and suffering and coerced into or subjected to unwanted, degrading and humiliating procedures and examinations. In some States, such practices include requiring sex workers to undergo weekly gynaecological examinations and blood tests, and forced or coerced pregnancy testing by means of physical examination or urine testing as a precondition for attending schools and public examinations. Virginity testing and the expulsion of pregnant girls from schools, which often result in long-term harmful consequences, constitute forms of discrimination and ill-treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls tend to be at risk of honour violence or killing for engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage, choosing partners without their family's approval or behaving in other ways that are considered immoral; Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons are also targeted (A/HRC/29/23). Honour killings have been documented in South-East Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East and affect 5,000-12,000 women each year. States' failure to prevent honour-based violence contravenes their obligations to combat and prevent torture and ill-treatment. This includes failure to grant asylum to persons facing the risk of honour violence in their countries of origin.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- As discussed by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in her 2007 thematic report, culture-based identity politics can be used to justify violence against women in the name of traditional practices and/or values. Practices commonly carried out in the name of tradition, such as female gender mutilation and child marriage, impact some but not all indigenous communities. The fact that those traditional practices cut across religious, geographical and ethnic characteristics demonstrate that there are multidimensional causal factors and that no one factor attributed to the identity of women makes them vulnerable. Violations suffered by indigenous women and girls must be viewed within the context of the broad spectrum of violations experienced and their specific vulnerabilities as members of indigenous communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 100 million and 140 million women and girls worldwide have been subjected to female gender mutilation. Female genital mutilation has been documented mainly in Africa, but also in some countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Central and South America. As recognized by WHO, there are no benefits to female genital mutilation; in fact, the procedure can have many negative consequences for women, including infection, complications in childbirth, pain, infertility and cysts, as well as their overall disempowerment within society. There is very little information about the prevalence and drivers of female genital mutilation among indigenous communities, but it is known to take place in some but not all indigenous communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, little disaggregated information is available about the specific dynamics of child marriage in indigenous communities, but it is known to take place in some communities. Much of the literature on child marriage demonstrates a strong link with poverty, therefore, the broader human rights violations of indigenous women and girls are likely to be strong causal factors for child marriage. Child marriage is not only a form of violence, but also a violation of the child's rights to education and family life. Child marriage can also lead to violations of the rights to life and health, as young girls often experience complications with pregnancy and childbirth, which can result in death. In addition, child marriage creates vulnerability to marital rape.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of the child to freedom of expression 2014, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- In India, members of the Adolescent Girls' Clubs against Child Marriage network help to persuade families not to marry their daughters off at a young age by educating people about the harmful consequences of early marriage. They offer a lifeline not only to girls who want to resist family pressure, but also to parents afraid that going against gender-based expectations will leave their daughters ostracized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Gender discrimination and violence based on moral and religious constructs regarding the social or marital status of the mother have been a key driver of illegal adoptions in several countries. In Ireland, the so-called mother and baby homes, which were managed by Catholic organizations, and other maternity institutions, were established in the 1920s to deal with unmarried pregnant women and girls and operated until the 1990s. Conditions in those institutions were deplorable and cases of violence against the women were common (e.g. abuse of expectant mothers, forced labour, neglect and detention). Before the 1952 Adoption Act, most children born out of wedlock were placed in foster care, "boarded out" or informally adopted. After passage of the Act, children were put up for formal adoption. Consent was improperly induced or forcibly obtained and documents, including illegal birth registrations, were falsified on a large scale. Furthermore, there were cases of intercountry adoptions, in particular to the United States of America, which often resulted from the same illegal practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Domestic bonded labour can be linked to gender-discriminatory cultural practices. Among certain ethnic groups in Ghana and neighbouring countries, for instance, girls as young as 6-10 years old are forced into bonded labour, serving as so-called trokosi or vudusi in the household of priests at local fetish shrines. They are given by their parents to the shrine to pay the shrine for erasing a moral failing or curse attached to the parents. In addition to performing domestic chores and ritual duties at the shrine, a trokosi is usually also expected to work long hours on farmland belonging to the shrine. From puberty, she is expected to endure sexual relations with the fetish priest. Although the Government of Ghana has criminalized the practice, it has not yet been eradicated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 66/140, the General Assembly reiterated its call for an end to harmful traditional or customary practices, such as early and forced marriage, and called upon States to take appropriate measures to address the root factors of child and forced marriages, including by undertaking educational activities to raise awareness regarding the negative aspects of such practices. It urged all States to enact and strictly enforce laws to ensure that marriage was entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, and, in addition, to enact and strictly enforce laws concerning the minimum legal age of consent and the minimum age for marriage and raise the minimum age for marriage where necessary, and to develop and implement comprehensive policies, plans of action and programmes for the survival, protection, development and advancement of the girl child in order to promote and protect the full enjoyment of her human rights and to ensure equal opportunities for girls, including by making such plans an integral part of her total development process.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The General Assembly also urged States to ensure that efforts to enact and implement legislation to end child and forced marriages engaged all stakeholders and agents of change and to ensure that the information on the legislation against the practice was well known and generated social support for the enforcement of such laws and legislation. States were urged to support community workshops and discussion sessions to enable communities to collectively explore ways to prevent and address child and forced marriages, provide information through stakeholders credible to the community, such as medical personnel and local, community and religious leaders, regarding the harm associated with those marriages, give greater voice to girls and ensure consistence of message throughout the entire community, and encourage the much-needed strong engagement of men and boys.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The violations that occur within servile marriage cannot be viewed only as acts of violence against women and girls because, although the overwhelming majority of those in servile marriage are girls and women, boys and men are also victims. Owing to gender prejudices, it is often easier for boys and men to leave forced marriages, live as divorcees, remarry and regain control of their lives, in particular because they are usually more educated and can be financially independent. Girls and women are more vulnerable and more likely to be sexually and physically abused. The Special Rapporteur focuses herein on girls and women in servile marriage for those reasons and also because, whether by design, error or omission, there is scant information available about the impact of servile marriage on boys and men.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- From an early age, girls are brought up and viewed as commodities to be used to solidify family links and preserve honour, in addition to financial assets that can improve the family's economic status. Discriminatory attitudes within the family are reinforced in the community and throughout the girl's life. Complicity by other women in the family and the community strengthens the concept of women as property and embeds the perception that violence against female family members is to be tolerated and remedied privately within the family environment. From the beginning of the marriage, a spouse is treated not as an individual but as a commodity, given that his or her consent to the marriage is not required.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Studies have shown that an overwhelming majority of women in servile marriage were forced to be girl brides. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Niger has the highest occurrence of early marriage, followed by Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Nepal, Malawi and Ethiopia. Girls and women experience the same violations within a servile marriage and, unless otherwise stated, the violations discussed herein apply to both girls and women. Girls are, however, much more vulnerable to abuse given their lack of physical and emotional maturity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Article 21 (2) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child states that child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys are to be prohibited and effective action, including legislation, is to be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years. Article 6 of the 2003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa states that no marriage is to take place without the free and full consent of both parties, and requires States to enact appropriate national legislative measures to guarantee that the minimum age of marriage for women is to be 18 years.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Gender inequality also contributes to servile marriage through its impact on formal legal systems. Although a woman's right to choose if, when and whom to marry is recognized in international human rights law, and although the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child and other treaty bodies state that the minimum age of marriage should be 18 years, several countries with high rates of early marriage also have unequal laws of consent for boys and girls. Such laws reinforce and legalize the idea that marriage is suitable for girls earlier than for boys. Patriarchal laws and practices give women and girls less negotiating power around marriage and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- In some communities, honour is connected with virtue, good works, righteous behaviour and obligations to one's parents, older persons and the community. Honour-related killings have often been associated with religious beliefs. These, however, are traditional or cultural practices. Among some Asian tribes, honour (or izzat) is associated with the female body and therefore women and girls must be guarded, protected and passed on to another member of the tribe. A girl or woman dishonours her family and tribe if her body is violated, even by force, and the shame can be cleansed only through her death.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Family status depends on honour. In patriarchal and patrilineal societies, maintaining the honour of the family is a woman's responsibility. The concept of women as commodities and not as human beings endowed with dignity and rights equal to those of men is deeply embedded in these societies. Women are seen as the property of men and must be obedient and passive, rather than assertive and active. Any assertive behaviour is considered to be an element that would result in an imbalance of power relations within the parameters of the family unit (E/CN.4/2002/83, para. 27). UNICEF reports that in some countries, early marriages are regarded by families as a means of protecting girls from premarital sex that would undermine their honour and that of their families.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- 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).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Other forms of ritual slavery in which a girl is given to a shrine and married to the gods are practised in parts of West Africa. The girl is enslaved to atone for the real or alleged sins of a male relative. There is a belief that gods often punish a person's sin by causing the deaths of family members until the sin is pardoned. Until the early eighteenth century, livestock or other gifts were given to the priests in atonement. As girls could be used as domestic help and as sexual partners, priests began taking young virgins as reparation instead. A girl is expected to serve a priest for a certain period, depending upon the severity of the crime and the policy of the shrine. The girl's family can redeem her after that period, but the priest demands a high price. If the priest dies, the girl becomes the property of his successor. If the girl dies without her family redeeming her, her family is obligated to replace her with another virgin, meaning that the cycle can continue for generations. Enslaved girls and women are forced to live in inhumane conditions. They are expected to work in the fields and the local market and also provide sexual services to the priests. They are beaten into submission if they resist (E/CN.4/2002/83, para. 42).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- As with domestic violence, it is difficult to obtain accurate figures of the numbers of girls and women in servile marriage. Statistics for early marriage, however, can be used as an indication. According to UNICEF, adolescent marriages (where one or both spouses are below the age of 19 years) commonly occur in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In those regions, most marriages take place between the ages of 15 and 18 years. UNICEF suggests that early marriages are often considered to be a way to protect girls, and even sometimes boys, from sexual predation, promiscuity and social ostracism. In some communities, parents perceive girls as wealth.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Non-consensual marriage is a form of marriage where one or both parties have not consented. The lack of consent is the main principle underlying all forms of servile marriage. In some instances, the law is used to justify non-consensual marriages. For example, to protect the honour of a girl or woman, some countries can compel a rape victim to marry her rapist if the rapist so agrees. In this situation, the rapist is pardoned. Although these marriages purport to be consensual, fear of stigma and family pressure sometimes coerce rape victims into consenting to them (see E/CN.4/2002/83). Recently, the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice reported the case of Amina Filali, a Moroccan woman who committed suicide after allegedly being forced to marry her rapist. Article 475 of the Moroccan Penal Code provides that a kidnapper or seducer of a minor girl may be acquitted of rape if he marries her (A/HRC/20/28/Add.1, para. 24).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- If a woman refuses marriage, she can be subject to character assassination or kidnapping by the man or his family to force her into marriage or to rape her. Bride kidnapping, a practice by which a bride is forcefully abducted and married, sometimes occurs in Kyrgyzstan and is often accompanied by physical and sexual violence (CEDAW/C/KGZ/CO/3, paras. 21 and 22). In many cases, girls and women endure years of constant abuse that sometimes leads to death at the hands of their relatives, their husbands or their husbands' families. Girls and women are also encouraged or forced by their husbands or their husbands' families to commit suicide.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- Girls and women who seek to leave servile marriage may be victims of acid attacks or honour-related killings. Acid attacks, which involve the use of sulphuric acid to disfigure or kill, have been reported in Asia, Europe and North and Latin America.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Women in servile marriage lack adequate protection in the light of their specific vulnerabilities arising from their gender, low social status and their age (if they are girls). Many countries lack laws criminalizing forced marriage or slavery-like practices that arise from servile marriage such as domestic servitude or marital rape, mainly because some abuses that occur in a marriage are often seen as domestic matters and outside interference is often frowned upon because it would be interference in the privacy of the home. Consequently, there is a tendency to deal with this form of slavery privately, outside the courts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- In some cases, although laws may be in place to protect women and girls from servile marriage, the authorities fail to prosecute the perpetrators. Consequently, victims do not seek help from the police or judiciary as they fear further abuse from Government authorities or being forcibly returned to their husbands. According to a 2008 report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, between 70 and 80 per cent of Afghan marriages are forced, and 57 per cent are child marriages where one of the spouses is under the age of 16 years. In 2009, Afghanistan enacted legislation on the elimination of violence against women, in order to criminalize servile marriage and ensure that perpetrators were brought to justice. The law does not, however, address how authorities should treat a woman who runs away to escape the offences criminalized under the law. Consequently, girls and women who flee servile marriage are arrested and often convicted of intent to have sex outside marriage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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