Post-secondary Education Responses to Forced Marriage and Gendered Abuse Against Students

Abstract

This article examines post-secondary education responses to intimate partner violence and forced marriage. Harmful practices that disproportionately affect women and girls, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and forced marriage, are particularly prevalent for women aged 16 to 25. This is also the age bracket during which attendance at college or university peaks. Post-secondary education therefore constitutes a potentially significant institutional context for intervention. To what extent universities are prepared or willing to take on this responsibility is a topic that is receiving increasing international attention. This article reports on recent findings from the UK and discusses them in an international and cultural framework. Cultural stereotyping in relation to gendered violence has rightly been criticised. However, as this article will argue, there are aspects of culture that are often glossed over in research and policy, yet are important for an understanding of how people and institutions think about and react to gendered abuse. The case of university responses to intimate partner violence and forced marriage illuminates these issues.