Some Debates on Autonomy and Consent in Forced Marriages

Abstract

Forced marriages is a phenomenon that appears linked to migration, and it is understood as a negative cultural practice for women. It is a little known issue in Spain, but not in other European countries that have a longer experience in migration issues and management of multiculturality. In Europe, sometimes forced marriages have been associated with a migration problem, at other times to a religious one, eventually it has been understood as a violation of human rights or as a form of gender violence. Its legal regulation depending on the diagnosis and explanation of this phenomenon. But in almost all the range of the State´s answers there are some common problems such as the role played by the consent of the spouse, the institution of marriage as it is regulated in our legal system, and the women’s autonomy.