The NOWYOUKNOW project
Forced Marriage
Forced marriage is a Human Rights violation.
The practice - which affects more women than men - was common in the past, even in countries of Christian religion. For example, arranged marriages had an important role among the aristocracy.
Nowadays in the industrialized countries forced marriage is often regarded as a phenomenon of modern slavery.
Who are the victims?
Tragically, in the developing countries 1 in 7 girls is married before age 15 - often to a man twice her age or older!
60 million girls around the world have been forced into marriage before the age of 18, a number that grows by 25,000 child brides every day.
Child brides are often separated from friends and family and are denied an education. They are at higher risk for violence, HIV, and death during pregnancy and childbirth.
What is a mail-order bride?
Mail order brides are women who list themselves in catalogues and are selecyed by men for marriage.
A rising demand for brides by men who have migrated to Western countries but don't want to renounce their culture has led to an increase in marriage migration. Women who choose this migrating channel seek better lives, but easily become targets for criminal groups engaged in human trafficking.
This photo by Stephanie Sinclair portrays Faiz Mohammed, 40, and Ghulam Haider, 11, just about to be married in Afghanistan, 2005.
You can learn more about forced marriage - including figures - by clicking on the photo.
Forced Begging
The children and elderly women begging on the street are often forced beggars, victims of human trafficking.
This is what we learned while investigating this issue:
Child begging violates the basic human rights and protection framework of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Beggary fits into ILO Convention No.182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999), as an outcome of illicit human trafficking and is one work that is hazardous physically, emotionally, morally and intellectually to the child’s well-being.
The UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (1956) also defines forced begging as one of the forms of forced labour which is also described by ILO Convention No. 29 concerning forced labour or compulsory labour (1930). Under the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2000), children (under 18 years old) who are moved from one location to another for the purposes of exploitation are considered to be trafficked whether or not they “agreed” to the exploitation (Article 3(a)-(c).
Typically, traffickers will choose children with handicaps because a handicapped child earns three times more than a healthy child. The grim reality is, if there aren't enough suitable children, they will be maimed to the purpose!
Films such as “City of Joy”or “The Millionaire” are about children and women forced to beg or forced to marry. In these films there are children who are blinded by traffickers and teenage girls that are forced to marry someone they did not love and/or was much older than themselves! These films are like a documentary and very helpful in understanding the issue