Annie Bunting

Stages of Development: Marriage of Girls and Teens as an International Human Rights Issue

The case of ‘child marriage’ has not been extensively studied in international women’s rights and children’s rights scholarship. This article attempts to contribute to a discussion about cultural diversity and human rights through the case of early marriage. I argue that a strategy based on a uniform marriageable age and a narrow rights-based analysis misses the complexity of both marriage and age. I maintain that the socio-economic conditions in which girls, adolescents and young women live and marry need to be examined and addressed in order to develop relevant and culturally appropriate international strategies. Further, I discuss the cultural specificity of childhood and adolescence in contrast to the international human rights perspective that considers all people under the age of 18 as children.

Making sense of child, early and forced marriage among Syrian refugee girls: a mixed methods study in Lebanon

Introduction The Syrian conflict has resulted in over 2.3 million child refugees in the Middle East and the prevalence of early marriage has reportedly increased among displaced Syrian families. This study explores the underlying factors contributing to child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon with the goal of informing community-based strategies to address the issue. Methods In July–August 2016, trained interviewers collected self-interpreted stories in Lebanon using Cognitive Edge’s SenseMaker, a mixed-method data collection tool. Participants included married and unmarried Syrian girls, Syrian parents as well as married and unmarried men. Each participant shared a story about the experiences of Syrian girls and then interpreted the story by plotting their perspectives on a variety of questions. Patterns in the responses were analysed in SPSS and the accompanying qualitative narratives were reviewed to facilitate interpretation of the quantitative results. Results 1422 self-interpreted stories from 1346 unique participants were collected with 40% of shared stories focused on (n=332) or mentioning (n=245) child marriage. Quantitative data summarised the different perspectives of female and male participants. Syrian girls and mothers were more likely to share stories about protection/security and/or education and were more likely to report that girls were overprotected. Male participants were more likely to share stories about financial security as well as sexual exploitation of girls and more often reported that girls were not protected enough. Despite these gendered perspectives, many of the shared narratives highlighted similar themes of financial hardship, lack of educational opportunities and safety concerns around sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Conclusions A complex myriad of factors contribute to early marriage including poverty, lack of educational opportunities and concerns about SGBV. Sexual exploitation under the guise of marriage is a reality for some Syrian girls. Gender-specific strategies to address child marriage might be more effective in reducing this harmful practice.

'Authentic Sharia' as Cause and Cure for Women's Human Rights Violations in Northern Nigeria

By analysing the proposals contained in the report, “Promoting Women’s Rights Through Sharia in Northern Nigeria,” which was published by the Centre for Islamic Legal Studies at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria in 2005, this paper explores the complexities and consequences of a rights strategy grounded in “an authentic understanding of Sharia.” The paper argues that this strategy may further constrain the discourses of debate for Muslim women in northern Nigeria. It also discusses how the strategy privatizes responsibility for poverty eradication, and how it ignores competing languages of social change, including Nigerian and international women’s rights.

1. Contemporary Slavery as More Than Rhetorical Strategy? The Politics and Ideology of A New Political Cause

have emerged as major sources of popular fascination and political preoccupation.1 This rapid and unexpected promotion to the front ranks of global conversations regarding exploitation and vulnerability has had far-reaching consequences. As many people working in this field will tell you, this new political cause of combatting “modern” or “contemporary” slavery – which has come to be chiefly understood in terms of fighting human trafficking – has experienced a remarkable degree of success in terms of popular awareness, institutional integration, and rhetorical support. What many people will not tell you, however, is that too many of the interventions that have followed in the wake of this remarkable success have not only struggled to make an impact, but they have also been complicit in a larger series of questionable political and ideological agendas. All political causes invariably come with complications and limitations, so it should not be especially surprising that there have been problems aligning aspirations with outcomes. On this occasion, however, one of the main challenges has been reaching a minimum degree of clarity and consensus regarding exactly what “the cause” of combatting slavery – or human trafficking – actually entails. Two overlapping problems have been especially significant in this respect: (1) a widespread tendency to 1 Contemporary Slavery as More than rhetorical Strategy? the Politics and ideology of a new Political Cause

The Expressive Nature of Law: What We Learn from Conjugal Slavery to Forced Marriage in International Criminal Law

The March 2016 Confirmation of Charges Decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court in Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen characterized the practice of forced conjugal association as the crime against humanity of ‘other inhumane acts’. This decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber comes amidst an unsettled jurisprudence on the legal characterization of the practice of forced conjugal association. The unsettled nature of the jurisprudence has led to inconsistencies in the legal characterization of forced conjugal association as either forced marriage as an ‘other inhumane act’ or sexual slavery, a variant of the general rubric of slavery. Accordingly, this article analyses the expressive effects of the labelling by contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals of forced conjugal association as either forced marriage as an ‘other inhumane act’ or slavery.