The Many Harms of Forced Marriage: Insights for Law from Ethnography in Northern Uganda
![handle is hein.journals/jicj18 and id is 347 raw text is: The Many Harms of Forced
Marriage
Insights for Law from Ethnography in Northern
Uganda
Myriam S. Denov* and Mark A. Drumbl**
Abstract
Harnessing an interdisciplinary framework that merges elements of law and social
science, this article aims to recast the crime of forced marriage, and thereby enhance
accountability, in light of knowledge acquired through ethnographic fieldwork in
northern Uganda. More specifically, we draw upon the perspectives and experiences
of 20 men who were 'bush husbands' in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). These
men were abducted by the LRA between the ages of 10 and 38 and spent between 6
and 24 years in captivity. During their time in the LRA, these men became 'bush
husbands' with each man fathering between 1 and 11 children. In-depth interviews
explored men's perspectives and experiences related to sexual violence, forced mar-
riage, parenthood and post-war accountability. The data reveal the complexity of
men's self-identified positions not only as high-ranking members of the LRA, but
also as captives of the LRA, as victims of forced marriage, as perpetrators, and as
caring fathers and husbands. These findings nuance extant understandings and
assumptions of men and masculinities in the context of forced marriage. Drawing
from these findings, we articulate several key implications for law notably, that
law acknowledges the harms that the crime of forced marriage and sexual violence
affects and imposes on all implicated parties, including boys, girls, men, and women.
* Myriam S. Denov is a Full Professor at McGill University and holds the Canada Research Chair
in Youth, Gender and Armed Conflict. [myriam.denov@mcgill.ca]
** Mark A. Drumbl is the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor at Washington and Lee University, School
of Law, where he also serves as Director of the Transnational Law Institute. [drumblm@wlu.edu]
The authors thank: Atim Angela Lakor, Arach Janet and Macdonald Oketayot for their formid-
able research and transcription skills; Kate Doty, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael, Melissa Gregg and
two anonymous external reviewers for helpful comments; and extend warm appreciations to
Anais Cadieux Van Vliet and Lauren Hancock for research assistance.
Journal of International Criminal Justice 18 (2020), 349-372 doi:10.1093/jicj/mgaa007
© The Author(s) (2020). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jicj18&div=19&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
The Many Harms of Forced Marriage: Insights for Law from Ethnography in Northern Uganda
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most