{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32035"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32035","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Marriage Migration, Citizenship, and Vulnerability: The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA)","abstract":"In 2005, following the deaths of several marriage migrants known as \"mail-order brides\", the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act was created. Designed to regulate the international matchmaking industry and provide women with the information to make informed, safe decisions about their future partnership in an attempt to decrease instances of violence, this law was the result of an increase in awareness, collaboration between interested parties, and incorporation into a broader bill. For years, marriage brokers had operated using stereotypes about submissive foreign women to attract customers, recently bringing business onto the internet and creating websites marketing women as purchases. Five years after the passage of the law, however, the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act fails to address six key vulnerabilities faced by female marriage migrants. For this reason, women immigrating to the United States to marry a spouse after introduction through a marriage broker still face an increased likelihood of domestic violence and even death. The author concludes with a discussion about future improvements in both legislation and operation to address violence against immigrant women.","abstract_html":"In 2005, following the deaths of several marriage migrants known as "mail-order brides", the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act was created. Designed to regulate the international matchmaking industry and provide women with the information to make informed, safe decisions about their future partnership in an attempt to decrease instances of violence, this law was the result of an increase in awareness, collaboration between interested parties, and incorporation into a broader bill. For years, marriage brokers had operated using stereotypes about submissive foreign women to attract customers, recently bringing business onto the internet and creating websites marketing women as purchases. Five years after the passage of the law, however, the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act fails to address six key vulnerabilities faced by female marriage migrants. For this reason, women immigrating to the United States to marry a spouse after introduction through a marriage broker still face an increased likelihood of domestic violence and even death. The author concludes with a discussion about future improvements in both legislation and operation to address violence against immigrant women.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pennington, Laura Anne"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Political Science","degree_department":"Political Science","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Brians, Craig Leonard"],"committee_members":["Weisband, Edward","Kim, Minjeong"],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-04-19","date_published":"2010-04-19","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:41Z","subjects":["citizenship","marriage broker","mail-order bride","marriage migration"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04292010-073322"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-04292010-073322","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32035","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Brians, Craig Leonard"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Weisband, Edward","Kim, Minjeong"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Political Science"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pennington, Laura Anne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:36Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:36Z","2016-12-31"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2010-04-19"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Political Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["citizenship","marriage broker","mail-order bride","marriage migration"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04292010-073322"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32035"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In 2005, following the deaths of several marriage migrants known as \"mail-order brides\", the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act was created. Designed to regulate the international matchmaking industry and provide women with the information to make informed, safe decisions about their future partnership in an attempt to decrease instances of violence, this law was the result of an increase in awareness, collaboration between interested parties, and incorporation into a broader bill. For years, marriage brokers had operated using stereotypes about submissive foreign women to attract customers, recently bringing business onto the internet and creating websites marketing women as purchases. Five years after the passage of the law, however, the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act fails to address six key vulnerabilities faced by female marriage migrants. For this reason, women immigrating to the United States to marry a spouse after introduction through a marriage broker still face an increased likelihood of domestic violence and even death. The author concludes with a discussion about future improvements in both legislation and operation to address violence against immigrant women."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Marriage Migration, Citizenship, and Vulnerability: The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA)"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Brians, Craig Leonard"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Weisband, Edward","Kim, Minjeong"],"dc:contributor.department":["Political Science"],"dc:creator":["Pennington, Laura Anne"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:34:36Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:34:36Z","2016-12-31"],"dc:date.issued":["2010-04-19"],"dc:description.abstract":["In 2005, following the deaths of several marriage migrants known as \"mail-order brides\", the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act was created. Designed to regulate the international matchmaking industry and provide women with the information to make informed, safe decisions about their future partnership in an attempt to decrease instances of violence, this law was the result of an increase in awareness, collaboration between interested parties, and incorporation into a broader bill. For years, marriage brokers had operated using stereotypes about submissive foreign women to attract customers, recently bringing business onto the internet and creating websites marketing women as purchases. Five years after the passage of the law, however, the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act fails to address six key vulnerabilities faced by female marriage migrants. For this reason, women immigrating to the United States to marry a spouse after introduction through a marriage broker still face an increased likelihood of domestic violence and even death. The author concludes with a discussion about future improvements in both legislation and operation to address violence against immigrant women."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Arts"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-04292010-073322"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32035"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["citizenship","marriage broker","mail-order bride","marriage migration"],"dc:title":["Marriage Migration, Citizenship, and Vulnerability: The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA)"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Political Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:41Z"}