This webinar features Rebecca Musser, survivor and founder of the Claim Red Foundation and a highly sought after speaker and author of the book “The Witness Wore Red”, a personal account of her struggle to escape a forced marriage within the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’) and her journey as a key witness in the trials which sought to bring FLDS leaders to justice. During this webinar, Rebecca explores how miseducation, misinformation, and psychological grooming can affect a person’s ability to give valid consent and what we can do to educate and empower individuals.

This webinar was first presented as part of the Forced Marriage Initiative’s Quarterly Webinar Series on June 26th, 2016.

Author: Dr Anver M. Emon (University of Toronto) and Persia Etemadi

Publication: 2015

This curriculum examines “forced” marriage by interrogating the law’s culture on youth agency and consent. It was designed for high school teachers situated in Ontario, Canada, and speaks directly to Ontario’s educational guidelines.

Author: Promundo: Alice Taylor, Giovanna Lauro, Marcio Segundo, & Margaret Greene

Publication: July, 2015

This study – the first of its kind in Brazil – explores attitudes and practices around child and adolescent marriage in the two Brazilian states with the highest prevalence of the practice, according to the 2010 Census, namely Pará in the north and Maranhão in the northeast. The study examines local attitudes and practices, as well as risk and protective factors, around child and adolescent marriage in the capital cities in these two states. It looks at both formal and informal unions (i.e., co-habitation), as the latter are the most prevalent forms of child and adolescent marriage in Brazil yet hold similar implications as formal marriages. The analysis highlights the ways in which a child or adolescent marriage may create or exacerbate risk factors (i.e., related to health, education, security) while often being perceived by girls or family members as offering stability in settings of economic insecurity and limited opportunities.

Author: Create Youth Network – Joanne Hemmings, PhD (Options) & and Saria Khalifa (FORWARD)

Publication: November, 2013

This report presents the results of three Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation Research (PEER) studies, carried out as part of the CREATE Youth-Net project, which aims to safeguard young people in three European countries (the United Kingdom, Portugal and the Netherlands) from harmful practices, in particular Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage. A total of 82 respondents took part and interviews covered a range of themes, including migration experiences, gender and social norms, notions of cultural identity, and harmful practices including
FGM and forced marriage.

Author: Forced Marriage Initiative

Publication: June, 2015

This brochure provides an overview of forced marriage in the United States as well as basic safety tips for survivors and the services offered by the Forced Marriage Initiative at Tahirih Justice Center.