Norway criminalized forced marriage without requiring victim consent to prosecution

Evidence

In the summer of 2003 the Norwegian parliament also resolved that a ban on forced marriages should be a part of the Norwegian Criminal Code. It proposed to impose a prison sentence of up to four years on anyone who arranges a marriage with a minor under the age of sixteen. Significantly, as anticipated in the ‘Renewed Initiative,’ the police and the public prosecutor would have the right to charge a person who forces someone into marriage even when the claimant has not asked for or consented to the prosecution. This latter provision was strongly criticized by the Red Cross, the Norwegian Association of Asylum Seekers, and others as likely to result in fewer youth seeking help for fear that their families will be criminalized. — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 313

Categorization

• QUESTION: Did the no-consent prosecution provision in fact reduce youth help-seeking, as critics predicted?