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Alondra Davalos
Professor Bieber
English 115 HON
8 December 2015
Forgotten American Women
Marriage should be celebrated and anticipated with excitement but how can it for those
married against their will. When you think of girls or young women forced into marriage you
probably think about other countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt but it is
happening in America too. Forced marriage is a reality to many young women in the United
States, which is a human rights issue that is often under-reported and does not receive enough
attention.
Forced marriages mainly occurs in immigrant communities that bring with them
traditional and religious beliefs. For example, many Afghan communities have relocated to the
United States because of the political unrest. However, many of these new arrivals bring with
their traditional beliefs regarding women, particularly forced marriage. From 2009- 2011 the
Tahirih Justice Center documented 3,000 forced marriages in the U.S. Alyana Alfaro, Sarah
Fournier, and Mary Zarikos state in the article Till death do us part: The forgotten U.S. victims
of forced marriage that a constellation of factors from cultural misunderstandings to lack of
legislation keeps the issue in the shadows.
In a forced marriage, family members may threaten the forced marriage victim,
physically abuse him or her, or even threaten them with death. In the case of young Iraqi Noor
Faleh Almaleki, Almalekis father ran her over with a car in Phoenix, Arizona when she refused
to marry. In the article Muslim father runs over his daughter in fatal attack because she was 'too

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westernised' in America the reporter states that Almalekis father believed that his daughter was
not living according to his traditional Iraqi values. When Almaleki rejected the man her father
had chosen for her to marry the tragedy occurred. Many of these forced marriages often occur
because of traditional beliefs. This is an example of an honor killing, where the father did not
want his daughter to bring disgrace to his name so he sacrificed her above being her same blood.
In her interview for the National Public Radio with Jennifer Ludden, Lina, a victim of forced
marriage, states that the families of young brides will often promise American citizenship to a
foreign husband in lieu of paying a dowry. Families also use the threat of deportation to keep
women from leaving or reporting their abuse. A person is supposed to go to family for help but
when the own family is the threat who are you supposed to turn to?
The U.S. government considers forced marriage to be a human rights abuse and in the
case of minors, a form of child abuse. Human rights are being violated under government
agencies noses by letting forced marriages occur. How does a child get married at fifteen or
sixteen year old in the United States? In most states eighteen is the minimum marriage age but
there is an expectations, parental consent. In Americas Child-Marriage Problem Fraidy Reiss
states that one persons parental consent can be anothers parental coercion, but state law
typically do not call for anyone to investigate whether a child is marrying willingly. Children
are to be protected in this country. A child can be sobbing while the parental consent application
is being signed and no one will intervene.
Thus forced marriages of girls and young women happen almost everywhere yet among
U.S. jurisdictions. Only nine jurisdictions 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

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no forced-marriage law on the books. There is no federal law protecting victims. There has been
cases where young girls are asked by family members to leave the United Sates for important
matters in their native lands only to find out once there they are to be married off. For those girls
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.
Parents often consider marriage a matter of family pride and honor. It's a way to protect
daughters, and sometimes sons, from "Western ways. Amelia Pang states in The Incredible
True Story of a 15-year-old American Escaping Forced Marriage that sometimes its a way of
stopping behaviors that the family disapproves of, like dating outside ones culture or religion.
There are deep traditions where elders decide fates of the daughters, its a way of maintaining
control. If the women dishonor them, honor killings are practiced.
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?

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Works Cited
Abdelkader, Engy. 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.
Pang, Amelia. The Incredible True Story of a 15-year-old American Escaping Forced Marriage
The Epoch Time n. pag. 27 March 2015. Web. 7 October 2015.
Reiss, Fraidy. Americas Child-Marriage Problem The New York Times n. pag. 13 October
2015. Web. 15 October 2015.