Coercion & the
Question of Consent
Survivors consented to the marriage only to please their families and communities. They initially did not recognize that their consent was coerced and that this coercion was a form of emotional abuse.
Instead, they saw the marriage as a way of fulfilling their duties to their families.
A Survivor's Story
A woman was forced to marry child at the age of 15 in the United States describes not knowing what consenting to the marriage meant. She describes her desire wanting to please - and not disappoint - her family and community who were all at the wedding.
What Service Providers Should Know
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Marriage requires consent.
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Accepting the idea of being married is not the same as consent.
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Consent requires an individual to approve of the timing of the marriage as well as the marriage partner.
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Coercion and other forms of abuse can put tremendous pressure on the person facing a marriage and can compromise the person's ability to say ‘no’ to an unwanted marriage.