Servile marriage


The concept of servile marriage covers marriage whereby a woman may be promised and/or given in marriage without her consent.
A useful definition of this concept derives from Article 1 of the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, and reads as follows:
  1. A woman, without the right to refuse, is promised or given in marriage on payment of a consideration in money or in kind to her parents, guardian, family or any other person or group; or
  2. The husband of a woman, his family, or his clan, has the right to transfer her to another person for value received or otherwise; or
  3. A woman on the death of her husband is liable to be inherited by another person; based on religious practices and cultures