page_title: Violence against women
section_title: Forced marriage
hierarchical_section_title: Violence against women / Forms of violence / Domestic violence / Forced marriage
caption_attribution_description: Azərbaycanca: Azad sevgi English: Azerbaijani magazine criticising the practice of forced marriage, domestic violence, and the social and political participation of women in society. Forced marriage is the theme for the cartoon with the caption in Russian Svobodnaya lyubov – Free love. The image should be read from right to left as Arabic script was used to write Azeri at the time. The first picture in the right: If you do not want to go voluntarily, I will take you by force. In the next picture: The akhun – cleric says: “Lady, since you don’t say anything, it seems that you agree. By the order of God I marry you to this gentleman”. Molla Nasreddin magazine (in Azeri), published between 1906-1931
context_page_description: Violence against women, also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence, are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls. Such violence is often considered a form of hate crime, committed against women or girls specifically because they are female, and can take many forms.
  VAW has a very long history, though the incidents and intensity of such violence have varied over time and even today vary between societies. Such violence is often seen as a mechanism for the subjugation of women, whether in society in general or in an interpersonal relationship. Such violence may arise from a sense of entitlement, superiority, misogyny or similar attitudes in the perpetrator or his violent nature, especially against women.
  The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women states, "violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women" and "violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men."
context_section_description: A forced marriage is a marriage in which one or both of the parties is married against their will. Forced marriages are common in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The customs of bride price and dowry, that exist in many parts of the world, contribute to this practice. A forced marriage is also often the result of a dispute between families, where the dispute is 'resolved' by giving a female from one family to the other.
  The custom of bride kidnapping continues to exist in some Central Asian countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the Caucasus, or parts of Africa, especially Ethiopia. A girl or a woman is abducted by the would be groom, who is often helped by his friends. The victim is often raped by the would be groom, after which he may try to negotiate a bride price with the village elders to legitimize the marriage.
  Forced and child marriages are practiced by some inhabitants In Tanzania. Girls are sold by their families to older men for financial benefits and often girls are married off as soon as they hit puberty, which can be as young as seven years old. To the older men, these young brides act as symbols of masculinity and accomplishment. Child brides endure forced sex, causing health risks and growth impediments. Primary education is usually not completed for young girls in forced marriages. Married and pregnant students are often discriminated against, and expelled and excluded from school. The Law of Marriage Act currently does not address issues with guardianship and child marriage. The issue of child marriage is not addressed enough in this law, and only establishes a minimum age of 18 for the boys of Tanzania. A minimum age needs to be enforced for girls to stop these practices and provide them with equal rights and a less harmful life.
caption: Criticism of the Azeri custom of forced marriage, as depicted in the early 20th-century satirical periodical Molla Nasraddin
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