April 21, 2023
Cited article by Erin Kilbride, Human Rights Watch
HRRC joins Human Rights Watch in calling for the elimination of laws that restrict marriage equality. By extension, we call for the end to laws which coerce people into heterosexual marriages and "traditional" laws that subjugate women, transgender, and queer people to patriarchal control.
Article Summary
A coalition of queer feminist organizations in India published a report illustrating links between state and religious opposition to marriage equality, to the subjugation of women, trans, and queer people. The report “Our Own Hurt Us the Most: Centering Familial Violence in the Lives of Queer and Trans Persons in the Marriage Equality Debates", states that the governmental opposition of marriage rights is “not against queer and trans [people] alone,” but instead is an aspect of a broader attempt to prevent full and free consent to marriage.
In February, Human Rights Watch reported that forced or coercive marriage was the most pressing human rights violation affecting queer women. The practice of forcing women into heterosexual marriages is directly tied to patriarchal laws governing land, inheritance, and property rights.