1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 16(2) “Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.”

2. UN Convention on consent to marriage, minimum age for marriage and registration of marriages, Article 1 “No marriage shall be legally entered into without the full and free consent of both parties.”

3. UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women “A woman’s right to choose a spouse and enter freely into marriage is central to her life and her dignity and equality as a human being.”

4. Forced Marriage:  Forced marriage is a marriage that has an absence of consent from one or both parties and uses one or more elements of coercion, violence, and/or fraud to cause the marriage.  There is no ability to choose one’s partner and the right of refusal may be denied by the family for one or both individuals.  There is an absence of free will in a forced marriage that differentiates it from other types of marriages including an arranged marriage where, although the parties to the marriage are introduced to each other, the final decision to marry remains with the two parties.

5. “Honor” Violence:  The terms “honor crime” or “honor-based violence” embrace a variety of crimes of violence including assault, imprisonment and murder, where the person is being punished by their family or their community.  They are being punished for actually, or allegedly, undermining what the family or community believes to be the correct code of behavior.  In transgressing this correct code of behavior, the person shows that they have not been properly controlled to conform by their family and this is to the “shame” or “dishonor” of the family.

6. Arranged Marriage:  The families of both spouses take a leading role in arranging the marriage but the choice whether or not to accept the arrangement remains with the prospective spouses.  Consent is essential to all marriages – only the spouses will know if they gave their consent freely.  If families have to resort to violence or emotional pressure to make someone marry, that person’s consent has not been given freely and therefore it may not be “arranged.”

7. Overview of 2012 Forced Marriage Survey  524 Survey Respondents including social workers, students, law enforcement, at-risk individuals and scholars in women’s studies.  37% were aware of known cases of forced marriage in the United States.  563 cases.  53% stated that they were aware of suspected cases of forced marriage in the United States.

8. Major Recommendations on FM from 2012 Study Gangashakti.org8

9. Carr Center, Harvard Kennedy School VAW Research Briefing May 22, 2014

10. The Mandate  To Examine the legal and implementation Gaps in the Global Framework on VAW.  To Build VOIS: VAW Organizational Information System.  To Implement GRE: A Global Research Engagement Strategy.  To Execute WGF: Working Group Formation.

11. Global Research Team GRE Global Research Engagement: A strategic geographical research process engaging law schools/clinics from every continent and a separate community of independent researchers working on their own VAW research. WGF Working Group Formation VOIS VAW Organization Informational System: A global Database of Orgs working on VAW. The Initiative on Violence Against Women

12. WGF – Working Group Formation  10 Regional Working Groups  Every continent is represented  Regional “VAW Landscape”  Human Rights Attorneys, VAW Practitioners, Scholars.

13. VOIS – VAW Organizational Information System  A global Database of Orgs working on VAW.  For Practitioners, scholars, grassroots women.  Global access to VAW Orgs.  Village, Town, City, Country  Contact Details  Mission  Size, Reach

14. GRE: Global Research Engagement  A strategic geographical research process  Community I: Law schools/clinics from every continent  Community II: Independent researchers working on their own VAW research  Local, grassroots perspective on VAW  Local understanding of access to justice and barriers to implementation.