The challenging problem of forced marriage exists today in the United States as a basic violation of human rights. It continues to be a harmful practice which family members of different cultures and faiths are currently engaged in.

My marriage is a case in point which was forced under severe coercion from my family members, primarily my father. I did not give my consent to the marriage and was forced to comply under duress of being left in India and not being allowed to return home to the USA. My family and I were living on Long Island when I was forced to go to India against my will. I was taken to India to engage in academic studies. After arriving in India I was told I would never return home until I married someone of their choosing who belonged to a specific community group.

 In many forced marriages, violence is used to make the bride and groom consent. Significant emotional abuse is a standard feature within the household and the various forms of nonviolent coercion used by the family can be more detrimental to the long-term mental and physical health of the victim than even the physical abuse. Forced marriage is not cultural and continues to be a transgression in many faiths and communities.

This problem impacts both immigrants and Americans born in the USA by eliminating the basic human right for self-determination from our democratic culture and system of government.

 It is tragic to observe that forced marriages are used by parents and families as a means to many ends, primarily to maintain the cultural pride and traditional value system of the family, counteract perceived promiscuity ,further socio-economic interests, obtain residency permits, display status and provide inheritance.

Forced marriages render the forced party (often a girl) vulnerable to abuse and exploitation by his/her spouse and both sides of the family, who exercise significantly greater power and control. This can trap the victim in conditions of enslavement, domestic or sexual servitude and expose her to domestic violence. The nature of the domestic violence includes physical violence, coercion, international kidnapping/abduction, false imprisonment, rape and emotional abuse. The emotional violence and abuse impacts the mental health of the victim, his/her children, family, and community.

This harmful practice is known to be occurring in African, South Asian, European, Latin American and Caribbean communities in the United States.

The United Nations views forced marriage as a form of human rights abuse, since it violates the principle of the freedom and autonomy of individuals, eliminating the basic human right of self-determination. In response to the problem of forced marriages among immigrants in the UK, The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 was passed, which enables the victims of forced marriage to apply for court orders for their protection. 

It is extremely disappointing to note that the UK, Scotland, and Germany have taken significant steps to address the problem of forced marriage within their communities and provide support to victims but here in the USA we have not done so.

From the US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons - 2010 Report on Trafficking in Persons - Topics of Special Interest:

Marriage induced through force, coercion, or deceit is a global phenomenon engendered by cultural and societal norms about the institution of marriage and the roles of spouses. Forced marriage is one entered into without full consent and under duress, where the individual has no right to choose a partner or ability to say no.

A forced marriage is clearly defined by a lack of consent from one or both parties to the marriage. There are marriages consistently occurring in the USA today with a clear lack of consent from one or both parties. It is occurring among minors and adults.

It is unacceptable and appalling to me, a home grown New Yorker and an American Citizen, to personally experience and observe such violent cases of abuse and see nobody in the US Government working to address this problem domestically!

Key Programmatic Aspects:

1. Research and evaluate the level of Consent in Marriages within the community groups being impacted.
2. Empower dialogue between the system actors who respond to the victims of forced marriage to increase the awareness and need for culturally acceptable outcomes for the victims and their families.
3. Clearly define the victimology of forced marriage in the USA.

Excerpt from the Online Encyclopedia of Everyday Law:

Marriage has generally been defined as a contract between a man and a woman who have consented to become husband and wife. More specifically, the U. S. Congress, in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), PUBLIC LAW 104-199, passed in 1996, defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife." Marriage requirements are defined by the laws of each state. Yet, there are certain aspects of a valid marriage that are required of any couple desiring to become husband and wife. These additional considerations include the capacity of the parties to enter into the marriage, the consent of the parties, and the age of each person.   http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/marriage-marriage-age.

Current law does not require any assessment of mutual consent by the parties to the marriage. Potential future modifications to the law could include a requirement and mechanism to assess the consent of the parties to the marriage.

“The Difference is Consent” project will conduct a national study on the level of consent within forced marriages by setting up a mechanism to capture data from the intake sessions at domestic violence centers, select local police precincts in impacted neighborhoods, guidance counselors at high schools within impacted communities, social workers and community advocacy organizations that interact with victims of forced marriage. This data will provide the basis for a perspective on the level of consent within marriages and the impact of this level of consent on the victim and the system actors.

Cross-disciplinary activities:

1.  Host panel discussions that involve the various system actors and the challenges they face when responding to victims: social justice organizations, community advocates, cross-cultural organizations, domestic violence service providers, local law enforcement and child protective services. I have already started a powerful dialogue with these critical groups. Their level of engagement has been extraordinary.
2. Coordinate town hall/open forum dialogues between at-risk teenagers, their families, community advocates, mental health professionals, medical doctors and guidance counselors/teachers in our local high schools. This will challenge current perspectives in the field where this problem flourishes within communal silos. Families who are considering a forced marriage must be in open dialogue with these parties to fully understand the impact forced marriage has on their children.
3. Attend conferences in the US and abroad that address gender-based domestic cultural violence, cross-cultural challenges faced by families in our communities, and the victimology of forced marriage.  
4.  Participate in policy debates relating to immigration rules and regulations (this ranges from the trafficking of victims overseas by their own families, the forced sponsorship of spouses, to the abandonment of American citizens overseas due to forced marriage) and the need for basic protective orders for victims of forced marriage at the local law enforcement level.
5. Travel to the UK to learn from the tremendous body of work and progress made in the field of forced marriage by community advocates and law enforcement.

Key Strategic Aspects:

1. Clarify the illegal and unconstitutional nature of forced marriage – due to lack of consent - among the system actors and advocates in the field.This will build on and intensify engagement levels of current discussions in the field.
2.  Leverage this platform of advocates and system actors to build a national coalition that will respond to the needs of victims through referrals. This will innovate on current practices in the field since no victim referral service exists today at the national level. This coalition would effectively network the different responders and serve to educate and protect the victims and their families.
3.  Use the data collected to launch the organization “Gangashakti.org” a community advocate – the first of its kind - addressing forced marriage in the United States.This will be a major innovation in the global arena of forced marriage since the United States does not currently have any American survivor-led advocacy effort.
4.  Publishing our findings to further mainstream this problem will be another innovation in the field as no American survivors of forced marriage have made such contributions to the body of work that currently exists.

Conclusion:

“The Difference is Consent” project seeks to clarify the level of consent within forced marriages and will produce ground-breaking data for the different fields of applied social sciences that are impacted by this harmful practice. The main beneficiaries are the women and girls that these agencies will be empowered to better serve! The public school systems, mental health professionals, medical community, domestic violence, legal advocacy, law enforcement and community advocacy organizations will also benefit from the findings and outcomes achieved.

“The Difference is Consent” project aligns with the American vision to foster vibrant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. Forced marriage victims in the USA today have no infrastructure that exists to either support, understand, or resolve their needs. This project will give greater numbers of families in America the opportunity to live in a more democratic manner within the microcosm of their families and communities. A forced marriage should have no validity within a democratic culture and system of government.

This project is culturally significant. As a global thought leader I want to bring together the different communities of service providers and first responders to empower communication that is not currently taking place. Our ability to exercise self-determination and the right to be free from violence is in the bedrock of our great nation!