This webinar features Laura Vidal, a Social Worker with a Masters in Human Rights Law and Policy from Sydney, Australia. Drawing on her experience of developing and delivering Australia’s only survivor advocates program for victims of human trafficking and slavery (including forced marriage) —The Freedom Advocates Project— Laura Vidal presented key guidelines for engaging survivors in equal and equitable advocacy to influence policy development and service delivery. Opening authentic and equitable space for survivors’ voices to be heard is essential in the movement to end violence against women, and this webinar provides a roadmap for building principled survivor engagement opportunities and programs. This webinar is appropriate for all advocates working in the field of gender-based violence and human trafficking, including those in direct service and public policy advocacy on the local, state and federal level.

During this webinar, two American child marriage survivors share their stories, highlighting the vulnerabilities and challenges they faced. Experts from the Tahirih Justice Center and Greater Boston Legal Services also share guidance on:

• Red flags and warning signs of forced marriage
• Collaborative strategies to assist minors to avoid or delay a forced marriage
• Creative legal approaches to preventing the forced marriage of minors
• Privacy protection and tech safety planning
• Preventing travel overseas if a forced marriage is imminent or suspected

This webinar was presented as part of the Forced Marriage Initiative’s Quarterly Webinar Series on December 12, 2016.

*This webinar is not publicly available. Please contact us at FMI@tahirih.org for more information.

Author: Casey Swegman, Forced Marriage Initiative – Tahirih Justice Center

Publication: 2016

This paper provides information and research on forced marriage in the United States and its intersections with child abuse, sexual assault and rape, domestic and family violence, stalking, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), and human trafficking. The research demonstrates that forced marriage is a serious but neglected problem in this country, and despite many advocates’ best efforts, survivors of forced marriage and those at risk continue to fall through the cracks of the systems and programs set up to protect individuals from abuse.

This webinar features Heather Heiman and Casey Swegman from the Forced Marriage Initiative at the Tahirih Justice Center. The webinar presents an overview of the nature and scope of forced marriage in the United States, as well as a discussion of the complex social and cultural dynamics and the unique challenges of problem-solving and safety-planning in such cases. The webinar also provides guidance on how to better screen for and identify potential warning signs and indicators of forced marriage within the populations you serve and best practices for providing culturally responsive services.