Part 1: An Introduction to Forced Marriage in the U.S.

The webinar will be hosted by the Forced Marriage Initiative at the Tahirih Justice Center. For over a decade, The Forced Marriage Initiative (FMI) at the Tahirih Justice Center has been a leader in raising awareness of forced marriage in the United States and the movement to end it. The FMI is the only organization in the U.S. recognized as a training and technical assistance provider by the Office on Violence Against Women on the issue of forced marriage.  

This webinar will provide participants with foundational knowledge of forced marriage as a form of gender-based violence and the abusive tactics often utilized to force an individual at risk to comply with the marriage demands. We will discuss commonly used terminology with a focus on the various aspects of consent that must be present in any marriage. We will walk through the tools of power and control often used by those perpetrating abuse, including the abuse that may precede a forced marriage, and the forms of violence that can result either by the refusal to marry or within the marriage.    

This webinar aims to increase the expertise of service providers with a focus on identifying cases of forced marriage within existing caseloads. Considerations for improving assessment and intake protocols will be discussed. 

Live ASL and Spanish language interpretation will be available.