About Bride Kidnapping and Bride Trafficking

What is Bride Kidnapping and Bride Trafficking?

Bride kidnapping and bride trafficking are forms of violence against women which combine forced marriage and human trafficking:

Bride kidnapping is an ongoing custom in specific countries and cultures which includes the practice of abducting young women and girls for marriage to men. According to The Advocates for Human Rights: “’bride kidnapping’ is used to describe the harmful practice of a man or group of men abducting a young girl or woman for the purpose of forcing her into a marriage to which she would not otherwise consent to.” [1]

Bride trafficking is the human trafficking of women and girls who are sent to and forced into marriage with men in countries such as China and South Korea where a combination of son preference and governmental population policies has resulted in too many men and not enough women. In its report titled Interlinkages Between Trafficking in Persons and Marriage, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime noted that marriage can be used as a recruitment method in trafficking. “This includes situations in which marriage is used as a tool to bring the bride to the destination country where she will be exploited sexually, in domestic servitude or in forced labour.” [2]

Some Hard Facts about Bride Kidnapping and Bride Trafficking

The following are some key facts about bride kidnapping and trafficking throughout the world.

Bride Kidnapping:

In Indonesia: The Sasak tribe from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, has a tradition called the Merariq, where the bride is ‘kidnapped’ before the wedding. [3]
In Kyrgyzstan: In rural Kyrgyzstan, surveys suggest 1 in 3 marriages begins with a kidnapping, a practice known as “ala kachuu”, which means “to take and run away”. It became illegal in 1994, but the practice continues, particularly in rural areas.[4] In practice, despite the law against kidnapping, there are no negative social or legal consequences for men who kidnap. They are not prosecuted for the crime. [5]

Bride Trafficking:

Key Factors that Contribute to Bride Kidnapping and Bride Trafficking

Various research studies have found that the key factors contributing to bride kidnapping and bride trafficking include:

Patriarchal culture: In Kyrgyzstan, the abduction of a woman for purposes of marriage is a violent expression of men’s dominant position in society. Some men view themselves as “entitled” to the women they have selected to marry, regardless of the women’s wishes.[9]
Skewed gender demographics: The majority of cross-border trafficked brides from South and Southeast Asia are sent to China where there is an acute gender imbalance due to the combination of a decades-long one-child policy and an overwhelming cultural preference for sons. [10] “Importing” trafficked women for purposes of marriage is considered a direct way of addressing the lack of women of marriageable age in the country.
Poverty and lower socio-economic conditions: In India, poor women are victims of marriage trafficking with traffickers targeting the most vulnerable and deprived ones. [11]

The Consequences of Bride Kidnapping and Bride Trafficking

Bride kidnapping and bride trafficking causes lasting harm and damage to women and girls including:

Domestic abuse including physical violence, emotional and psychological violence, coercive control, and marital rape.
Domestic slavery including being forced to work like an indentured servant for the husband’s family.
Reproductive slavery and coercion including forced childbearing.
Compromised health including birth complications for underaged girls, PTSD and physical trauma from domestic violence.

Prevention and Intervention

Globally, there have been an increasing number of prevention and intervention measures and programmes undertaken to help address bride kidnapping and bride trafficking:

In January 2020, in partnership with the government of Kyrgyzstan, the European Union and the United Nations kicked off a multi-year country programme as part of the global-level Spotlight Initiative to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, including bride kidnapping. [12]
In March 2022, the Chinese government launched a year-long campaign to stem the trafficking of women and children after a video of a chained mother of eight caused public outrage. [13]

Recommendations by The Wilson Center to address the issue of bride kidnapping include:

Encouraging changes in the legal process to discourage bride kidnapping.
Developing support groups and crisis centres to aid victims of bride kidnapping.
Improving economic conditions at the local level. [14]

Footnotes

Further Reading

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