Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026): Derecho en Sociedad
ARTICLES

Forced Marriage as an Autonomous International Crime: Specific Harm, Legality and Justice for Victims

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  • Tania Verdugo Lema
Tania Verdugo Lema
Universidad Internacional de la Empresa
DOI: https://doi.org/10.63058/des.v2i2.390

Published 2026-09-29

Keywords

  • Forced marriage,
  • International Criminal Law,
  • Crimes against humanity,
  • Gender-based violence,
  • International Criminal Court,
  • Human rights
    • ...More
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How to Cite

Verdugo Lema, T. (2026). Forced Marriage as an Autonomous International Crime: Specific Harm, Legality and Justice for Victims. Derecho En Sociedad, 2(2), 137p – 160p. https://doi.org/10.63058/des.v2i2.390

Copyright (c) 2026 Derecho en Sociedad

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Abstract

This article examines the recognition of forced marriage as an autonomous international crime under International Criminal Law. Using a doctrinal, jurisprudential, historical-evolutionary and critical methodology with a gender perspective, it analyses international instruments, international criminal case law and specialised scholarship. The central argument is that forced marriage produces a specific harm that is not fully captured by rape, sexual slavery or other gender-based crimes: the coercive imposition of a marital, social and symbolic status that negates the victim’s autonomy and creates a continuing framework of sexual, domestic, reproductive and communal subordination. The article argues that the jurisprudential development from the Special Court for Sierra Leone to the Ongwen case before the International Criminal Court supports the dogmatic autonomy of forced marriage without breaching the principle of legality, provided that the residual category of “other inhumane acts” is applied through strict criteria of gravity, similarity and foreseeability.

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