TY - JOUR
T1 - Forced marriage as a crime against humanity
T2 - Problems of definition and prosecution
AU - Jain, Neha
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Forced marriages are a pervasive feature of armed conflicts around the world, such as in Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Rwanda and Uganda. Despite forced marriage having been charged and recently affirmed as an international crime before the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), courts and commentators have paid little attention to examining its viability as a distinct category of crime in international law. This article analyses the SCSL's characterization of forced marriage as conduct subsumed within the category of other inhumane acts. It isolates the constituent elements of the crime of forced marriage through comparative case studies of Sierra Leone and Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. The author addresses the issue of whether forced marriage can be distinguished from arranged marriages on the one hand, and sexual slavery on the other, to justify its prosecution as an 'other inhumane act' as part of crimes against humanity.
AB - Forced marriages are a pervasive feature of armed conflicts around the world, such as in Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Rwanda and Uganda. Despite forced marriage having been charged and recently affirmed as an international crime before the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), courts and commentators have paid little attention to examining its viability as a distinct category of crime in international law. This article analyses the SCSL's characterization of forced marriage as conduct subsumed within the category of other inhumane acts. It isolates the constituent elements of the crime of forced marriage through comparative case studies of Sierra Leone and Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. The author addresses the issue of whether forced marriage can be distinguished from arranged marriages on the one hand, and sexual slavery on the other, to justify its prosecution as an 'other inhumane act' as part of crimes against humanity.
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U2 - 10.1093/jicj/mqn064
DO - 10.1093/jicj/mqn064
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:60149085527
SN - 1478-1387
VL - 6
SP - 1013
EP - 1032
JO - Journal of International Criminal Justice
JF - Journal of International Criminal Justice
IS - 5
ER -