Profitable Proposals: Explaining and Addressing the Mail-Order Bride Industry Through International Human Rights Law

This article evaluates the human rights violations experienced by women in the mail-order bride industry in light of relevant international human rights instruments. The industry facilitates marriages characterized by domestic violence and other abuses, relies on and perpetuates racial and sexual stereotypes of women, relies on and perpetuates globalized economic inequality between women and men and is closely associated with trafficking of women into involuntary sex work and domestic labour. The author provides recommendations for addressing the industry through the use of international human rights systems, education and legislation, as well as providing social services for victims of the trade. [Descriptors: Marriage, International]