Name(s):
Denial of right of choice in marriage
Marriage without consent
Imposition of marital choice by parents
Levirate marriages
Nature
Customs of forced marriage include: the paying of a bride-price; child marriage; concubinage; and abduction. Also included are arranged marriages where neither the man or the woman, or where just the woman, has no choice in the matter. In forced marriage it is usually the woman who is denied the freedom of choice.
Claim
An involuntary or forced marriage which lacks the free consent of both parties, particularly in the case of a young child, is a violation of essential human rights and a form of slavery with regard to the person who is forced to participate in the marriage.