Alondra Davalos

Professor Bieber
English 115 HON
20 October 2015
Forgotten American Women
Marriage should be celebrated and should resemble happiness but how can it for those
marrying against their will. When you think of girls or young women forced into marriage you
probably think about other countries but it is happening in America too. Forced marriages
continue to be a burden to many girls and young women in modern America, a gender inequality
that is under-reported and is not acquiring enough attention.
Forced marriages mainly occurs because of precedents in communities. Tahirih Justice
Center recently documented 3,000 forced marriages in the U.S. during a two-year period. Alfaro,
Fournier, and Zarikos state in Till death do us part: The forgotten US victims of forced
marriage that a constellation of factors from cultural misunderstandings to lack of legislations
keeps the issue in the shadows here.
In a forced marriage, family members may threaten the forced marriage victim,
physically abuse him or her, or even threaten them with death. In her interview with Jennifer
Ludden, Lina states that the families of young brides will often promise American citizenship to
a foreign husband in lieu of paying a dowry. Families use the threat of deportation to keep
women from leaving or reporting their abuse.
Parents often consider marriage a matter of family pride and honor. It's a way to protect
daughters, and sometimes sons, from "Western ways." Dating. Deep traditions where elders
decide fates of the daughters. Way of maintaining control. Honor killings.

The U.S. government considers forced marriage to be a human rights abuse and in the
case of minors, a form of child abuse. The Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs has
compiled information for those countries that have reported cases where U.S. citizens have faced
forced marriage. Among U.S. jurisdictions, only nine California, the District of Columbia,
Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, the Virgin Islands and Virginia have
legislation that could encompass forced marriage, according to the Global Justice Initiative. New
York has no forced-marriage law on the books. There is no federal law protecting victims.
In short Americas people must wake up and become aware of this gender inequality
against young women. These American citizens are being abused and shamed, sometimes staring
death in the eye and our government and people arent changing attitudes. If our destiny was
controlled by the men in our lives would our attitudes change and would we speak up?

Works Cited
Engy, Abdelkader. Force or Choice? American Muslim Marriages The Huffington Post n. pag.
1 July 2014. Web. 7 October 2015.
Alfaro, Alyana, Sarah Fournier, and Mary Zarikos. Till death do us part: The forgotten US
victims of forced marriage Aljazeera n. pag. 21 January 2014 Web. 7 October 2015.
Lina. Thousands of Young Women in U.S. Forced Into Marriage Interviewed by Jennifer
Ludden. National Public Radio. Web. 14 April 2015.