Consent, Custom, and the Law in Debates around Forced Marriage at the Special Court for Sierra Leone

This chapter analyzes concepts and evidence brought to bear on the criminalization of forced marriage at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in the aftermath of the 1991–2002 civil war, against the backdrop of marriage practices and attitudes toward sex crimes outside the conflict setting. Differences between forced and customary marriages were critical to court arguments about the former’s criminalization. My analysis highlights tensions between notions of individual and collective consent, which in some instances mimic gender biases in customary law. I argue that the criminalization of forced marriage at the SCSL had paradoxical consequences for women’s rights