Forced Marriages in Europe: A Form of Gender-Based Violence and Violation of Human Rights

Forced marriages are recognized as a form violating human rights, descriminatiing against women as well as a form of gender-based violence which both women and children suffer. In numerous international treaties and in other supranational documents, this practice is perceived as a violation against people’s dignity and as an attempt against fundamental rights such as freedom and equality. Moreover, the forced marriage is a crime condemned by the International and European human rights law: it violates the right to freely marry and the right to live a life free of gender-based violence. The objective of this article is to critically review the international and European obligations of States in relation to forced marriages. This critical review will be carried out through normative analysis from Legal Feminism and Feminist Theory.