Child Marriage or Forced Marriage? South Asian Communities in North East England

Abstract

This article addresses the links between child marriage and forced marriage in the UK, drawing from a research study on South Asian communities in North East England. It looks at definitional issues through an analysis of UK and South Asian policies. It also analyses how these concepts are understood by service providers, survivors of child marriage and young people from South Asian communities. Finally, concepts such as gender, age, familial and community control reflected in normative marriage practices are addressed.

Chapter Two - Methodology 47

“…It has also been suggested that forced marriage is a product of immigration rather than a 'tradition' exported from the country of origin (Phillips and Dustin, 2004: 543). There is also literature addressing how forced marriage is against the tenets of different religions including Islam (Caroll, 1998) and a misinterpretation of culture (Gangoli et al, 2006). By looking across a range of communities involving different minority ethnic groups and different religions, the current study was able to examine some of these issues, as discussed below.…”

“…The availability of certain support and services may be crucial to decreasing the risk of forced marriages taking place (Gangoli et al, 2006). Individuals may thus experience greater risks if they are unable to access appropriate services.…”

“…Some studies look at the ways in which communities have constructed arranged marriage as an integral part of their culture (Bhopal, 1997). However, while there is a difference between arranged and forced marriage, there can also be slippage or blurring between the two in terms of experience (Shan, 1991;Caroll, 1998), and cultural notions such as izzat (honour) and sharam (shame) may be used to silence young people in cases of forced marriage in South Asian contexts (Akbar, 2005;Gangoli et al, 2006). The failure to work with intersectionality at a policy and practice level has been shown in other studies to compound the difficulties encountered by survivors facing forced marriage and other forms of domestic violence (Batsleer et al, 2002;Burman et al, 1998;Chantler et al, 2001) The issues highlighted in the literature were also reflected in various ways in our study, and the in-depth examination of survivors' experiences of forced marriage and the responses by agencies and organisations allowed detailed examination of the factors leading to increases or decreases in the risk of forced marriage.…”

“…Gender, ethnicity, culture and immigration can increase women's risks of experiencing patriarchal control, especially in the context of forced marriage (Ahmed, 2004;Gangoli et al, 2006). Taking into account such links allows examination of the power dynamics between and within communities and groups, thus helping to highlight the impact of different aspects of culture (Anthias, 2002).…”

“…Thus forced marriage may be experienced more widely than the commonly held view that it is an issue primarily affecting South Asian communities (c.f. Samad and Eade, 2002;Gangoli et al, 2006;Razack, 2004).…”