Pen. Code, § 265 · Chapter 1. Rape, Abduction, Carnal Abuse of Children, and Seduction
Pen. Code, § 265
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) A person who compels another person, unlawfully, against their will, and by force, menace, or duress, to marry them or to marry another person shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(b) This section shall be applied equally regardless of the age of the victim of a forced marriage at the time of the forced marriage.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 633, Sec. 3. (AB 1134) Effective January 1, 2026.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=265.
- Text hash
- sha256 318003ba41441432df3443fe833e11d065a1b887d21fdbd2ea7461dfc3a3e12c
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Penal Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.