THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS AND FORCED MARRIAGE: AN APPROACH TO THE PHENOMENON AND CRIMINAL LAW RESPONSE

Forced marriages are one of the least known forms of trafficking in human beings. Practices such as the selling of wives, exploitative sham marriages or child marriage refer to a place of intersection of both phenomena in which victims are rarely identified and protected. The aim of this paper is to analyse whether, on the basis of currently available knowledge, the provision of a form of trafficking for the purpose of exploitation for the celebration of forced marriages, in the terms currently described in article 177bis of the Spanish Criminal Code, allows for an adequate response to the victims, both in terms of criminal and assistance protection.