AB 2534
CFC SupportsDomestic Violence Prevention Act: forced marriage
CFC Says
CFC supports AB 2534.
This bill would officially classify forced marriage as a form of domestic violence under California law, allowing courts to issue protective orders to protect people from being pressured or coerced into an unwanted marriage.
Currently at 2nd Committee, having cleared 3 stages. Hearing in Senate Appropriations Committee in 35 days.
Legislative Progress
CFC's Position Letter
June 8, 2026
The Honorable Ash Kalra
California State Assembly, District 25
1021 O Street, Suite 4610
Sacramento, CA 95814
[email protected]
Dear Assembly Member Kalra:
On behalf of tens of thousands of constituents, allied organizations, and more than 2,000 churches across California, California Family Council is proud to endorse AB 2534.
No one should be forced into marriage. Forced marriage is a severe form of coercion that strips individuals, most often young women and girls, of their freedom, their voice, and their future.1 Marriage must rest on the free and full consent of both parties; coerced unions are not marriages in any meaningful sense.
This bill protects the vulnerable, especially women and children. Scripture calls us to "defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed" (Psalm 82:3, ESV). Between 2009 and 2011 alone, the Tahirih Justice Center documented nearly 3,000 cases of forced marriage or risk of forced marriage in the United States, many involving minors, with California among the states where cases were reported.2 California's existing legal framework leaves these victims without adequate protective remedies.
AB 2534 closes a critical gap in California law. Current law criminalizes completed forced marriages but leaves victims of attempted or extrajudicial coercion without access to protective orders.3 This bill explicitly recognizes forced marriage as domestic violence under the DVPA, authorizing courts to intervene before a victim is removed from the state or country and beyond the reach of help.
For these reasons, California Family Council is proud to support AB 2534.
Respectfully,
Greg Burt
Vice President
California Family Council
References
1 AB 2534 (Kalra) Author's Fact Sheet, March 10, 2026. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2534
2 Assembly Floor Analysis, AB 2534, April 24, 2026 (citing Tahirih Justice Center forced marriage data, 2009-2011).
3 Assembly Appropriations Committee Analysis, AB 2534, April 20, 2026.
Official Description
Existing law establishes the Domestic Violence Prevention Act for the purpose of preventing acts of domestic violence, abuse, and sexual abuse and providing for a separation of the persons involved in the domestic violence for a period sufficient to enable those persons to seek a resolution of the causes of the violence. Existing law authorizes a court to issue an ex parte protective order enjoining a party from, among other things, disturbing the peace of the other party. Existing law provides that disturbing the peace of the other party refers to conduct that includes coercive control, as defined, which includes unreasonably engaging in specified actions, including isolating the other party from friends, relatives, or other sources of support. Existing law makes an intentional and knowing violation of a protective order punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would include forced marriage for purposes of the act. The bill would define “forced marriage” as a spousal relationship in which one or both parties do not or cannot consent and one or both parties are compelled, through force, fraud, coercion, duress, abuse of power, or coercive control, to enter, attempt to enter, or maintain, a marriage, regardless of whether the marriage is legally valid. If a protective order is sought to protect against a forced marriage, the bill would authorize all persons engaged in conduct to arrange, officiate, finance, or facilitate a forced marriage or attempted forced marriage to be included in one action as respondents. The bill would provide that coercive control, for purposes of the act, includes interfering with, threatening, or attempting to prevent a party or witness from participating in a court proceeding. The bill would provide that conduct undertaken to compel, attempt to compel, prepare for, or facilitate a forced marriage constitutes disturbing the peace of the other party, as specified. The bill would require the provisions of the act to be liberally construed. The bill would authorize a court to grant relief regardless of whether a marriage has occurred or whether a purported marriage would be legally valid in this state or any other jurisdiction. Because a violation of a protective order is punishable as a crime, by expanding the bases for the issuance of these orders, the bill would expand an existing crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.