Victims Of Forced Marriage Research Articles

Love and Marriage: Reimagining Muslim female subjectivity in Kamila Shamsie’s Salt and saffron

Muslim women in popular Western imagination have usually been viewed as victims of forced marriages and suppressed individualistic rights to love/desire, and Islam as the primary source of it. The trend has intensified in the post-9/11 gendered Islamophobic spotlight. Anglophone literature by Muslim women writers has countered this monolithic narrative by exploring the multi-layered complexity and fluidity of Muslim womanhood. We aim to examine the subjectivity of Muslim women as explored in Kamila Shamsie’s novel Salt and Saffron regarding love/desire and marriage by drawing on the concepts of performativity and third space to intervene in the discourse of Muslim women’s gender subjectivity. We examine how the female protagonist (Aliya) transforms her consciousness of her rights and cultural norms into her battles for agency and expansive space for choice and decision in love and marriage without open confrontation against and submission to norms. This performative subjective position comes out as inclusive and agentive, re-signifying the norms and the individualist awareness into an indeterminate, third space of enunciation. We foreground the epistemology that interlaces mobility-shaped individualistic awareness and consciousness of norms to contradict the monolithic Muslim woman compliant/victim theoretical frame.

HIDDEN AND MULTIPLE VICTIMIZATION: FORCED MARRIAGE IN TURKEY

Aim: Forced marriages are the marriages in which one or both spouses do not give consent to the marriage. Violence, threats, or any other form of coercion is involved to actualize the marriages and cause multiple victimization. Victims of forced marriages may be women, men, girls and boys. The subject of the victimization may be all types of violence. This study aims to evaluate and to raise the awareness of the professionals who work in the field, and to suggest solutions to prevent the forced marriages. Materials and Methods: In the study, a total of 296 people (66% women and 34% men), who work in the fields in Mersin, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa and Istanbul provinces where the risk factor is high, were surveyed; and workshops were organised with them. The survey results were analysed by using the SPSS 20 statistical program. Results: The survey was applied to the professionals working in the field. Only 46% of participants correctly answered the question about the age of marriage with parental consent. 10% of the participants stated that they look positively to the marriage of those under the age of 18. 9 out of 100 people working in the field do not see child marriage as a type of forced marriage. 32% of the employees in the field specified that they do not know where to apply in case of the danger of forced marriage. Conclusion: The main factors lead to forced marriage may be specified as lack of education, customs and traditions, family honour, economic reasons, migration, social and family pressure on parents, and domestic violence. Forced marriages have significant negative impacts especially for young women. Trainings of the professionals will be the first step of solving the problem. The next step will be defining forced marriage as a criminal offence in Turkey.

Intervention with Victims of Forced Marriage

The article presents results of a qualitative research aimed at analyzing how professionals work to support and protect victims of forced marriage in Spain. The study is based on the information gathered from professionals involved in criminal justice and in victim support with whom in-depth interviews were conducted. Given the increasingly common opinion favorable to address forced marriage from a victim-centred and intersectional perspective, away from those that focus on criminalization and cultural “otherness’, the research presents the landscape of provisions aimed at preventing and supporting victims of forced marriage in this country. Additionally, the article gives an overview on how professionals adjust scarce resources and unclear paths to earlier detect and to better support victims of this complex phenomenon.

The Many Harms of Forced Marriage

Abstract Harnessing an interdisciplinary framework that merges elements of law and social science, this article aims to recast the crime of forced marriage, and thereby enhance accountability, in light of knowledge acquired through ethnographic fieldwork in northern Uganda. More specifically, we draw upon the perspectives and experiences of 20 men who were ‘bush husbands’ in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). These men were abducted by the LRA between the ages of 10 and 38 and spent between 6 and 24 years in captivity. During their time in the LRA, these men became ‘bush husbands’ with each man fathering between 1 and 11 children. In-depth interviews explored men’s perspectives and experiences related to sexual violence, forced marriage, parenthood and post-war accountability. The data reveal the complexity of men’s self-identified positions not only as high-ranking members of the LRA, but also as captives of the LRA, as victims of forced marriage, as perpetrators, and as caring fathers and husbands. These findings nuance extant understandings and assumptions of men and masculinities in the context of forced marriage. Drawing from these findings, we articulate several key implications for law — notably, that law acknowledges the harms that the crime of forced marriage and sexual violence affects and imposes on all implicated parties, including boys, girls, men, and women. While noting the gendered component of the harms of forced marriage, as well as sexual violence, that disproportionately affects women and girls, the ethnographic data suggest detaching the criminalization of forced marriage from a largely gender-based analysis to a more gender-neutral one rooted in multiparty coercion. Senior commanders who order forced marriages should face criminal sanction that recognizes the totality of the harms caused, including to both husbands and wives and the children born of these compelled unions: this move would augment the retributive, deterrent and expressive value of criminal punishment. Finally, a granular and textured understanding of forced marriage would lay groundwork for more effective, tailored and targeted reintegrative and rehabilitative programmes for all afflicted parties.

Forced marriage as a lived experience: Victims’ voices

The official response to forced marriage in the majority of European countries has been to criminalise the practice. Based on racial stereotypes and outdated Orientalist perspectives, this overlooks the prior need for appropriate empirical analysis in order to better understand the reality of the practice being regulated, and fails to provide victims with the means of protection they need beyond the framework of criminal law. Devising a suitable and effective strategy to address this form of victimisation instead requires an in-depth understanding of the effects that victims of these practices endure, and of what the victims themselves would consider best practice in terms of assistance and protection. In view of these primary objectives, after the existence of forced marriages in Spain had been demonstrated by the corresponding quantitative research, a qualitative research study followed, which was conducted through interviews with victims of forced marriage. The results are presented here. The secondary aim of the study was to draw up the basic guidelines for an integrated programme of action to address this process of victimisation.

Love, matrimony and sexuality: Saudi sensibilities and Muslim women's fiction

All those desires, discriminations, success stories, and confrontations that otherwise might not have seeped into mainstream discourses are subtly said through the stories that mirror Arab women‟s lives. Girls of Riyadh is a postmodern cyber-fiction that delineates subjects we usually do not get to hear much about, i.e. the quest of heterosexual love and matrimony of young Arab women from the less women-friendly geography of Saudi Arabia. Though in the last two decades the scholarship on alternative discourses produced by Muslim women have been multitudinous, there is a scarcity of critical investigations dealing with creative constructions of postfeminist, empowered Muslim woman, not battling with patriarchal power structures, but negotiating aspects that matter most in real life: human associations and familial formations. This paper engages with the categories of love, marriage, and sexuality, drawing upon the lives of four educated, successful, „velvet class‟ Saudi women. The significance of this study is linked with carefully challenging some of the stereotypes about Arab women as victims of forced marriages and their commonly perceived discomfort with love at large. The study reveals that it is men who need to “man up” against cultural conventions since women are increasingly expressive in their choices and brave enough to face the consequences audaciously.

Love, matrimony and sexuality: Saudi sensibilities and Muslim women's fiction

All those desires, discriminations, success stories, and confrontations that otherwise might not have seeped into mainstream discourses are subtly said through the stories that mirror Arab women‟s lives. Girls of Riyadh is a postmodern cyber-fiction that delineates subjects we usually do not get to hear much about, i.e. the quest of heterosexual love and matrimony of young Arab women from the less women-friendly geography of Saudi Arabia. Though in the last two decades the scholarship on alternative discourses produced by Muslim women have been multitudinous, there is a scarcity of critical investigations dealing with creative constructions of postfeminist, empowered Muslim woman, not battling with patriarchal power structures, but negotiating aspects that matter most in real life: human associations and familial formations. This paper engages with the categories of love, marriage, and sexuality, drawing upon the lives of four educated, successful, „velvet class‟ Saudi women. The significance of this study is linked with carefully challenging some of the stereotypes about Arab women as victims of forced marriages and their commonly perceived discomfort with love at large. The study reveals that it is men who need to “man up” against cultural conventions since women are increasingly expressive in their choices and brave enough to face the consequences audaciously.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE FORCED MARRIAGE. THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN CASE STUDY IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT

Ponte Academic JournalJun 2018, Volume 74, Issue 6 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE FORCED MARRIAGE. THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN CASE STUDY IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXTAuthor(s): Dzhansarayeva Rima Yerenatovna ,Malikova Sholpan Baltabekovna, Atakhanova Gulzagira Makhatovna, Tlepbergenov Orynbasar Nusupaliyevich, Omarova Sholpan Bekmuratovna, Bissengali LiliyaJ. Ponte - Jun 2018 - Volume 74 - Issue 6 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2018.6.3 Abstract:The article provides generalized and collated information on the international experience in the fight against forced child marriages, the reasons and consequences of these marriages; moreover provides guidelines of the law for their elimination. The study contains analyzed sources and international instruments. It was revealed that the victims of forced marriages are mainly women and girls, who consequently suffer from physical, psychological and mental disorders. Despite the prohibition of these marriages at the international level and the obligation to set the minimum age of marriage, in some countries it still lies dormant. Other countries practise the state laws in conjunction with contradicting conventional rules. There is a substantiated necessity of criminalization of forced marriage with provision in the legislation of most countries. The Republic of Kazakhstan is the only country in Central Asia, where the criminal liability for this offense is not provided. Accordingly, based on the state legislation analysis and international legislative practice the article provides guidelines of the law on possible penal provisions against the privies of forced marriage. These guidelines can be applied to legislation of other countries with a similar problem. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Forced marriage of people with learning disabilities: a human rights issue

This paper reports some of the findings of an exploratory study which sought to better understand the demographics of forced marriage of people with learning disabilities and the contexts in which such marriages may occur. It was found that forced marriages of people with and without learning disabilities showed broad similarities in relation to ethnicity, some differences in terms of age and substantial differences in terms of gender. Men and women with learning disabilities are equally likely to be victims of forced marriage. The reasons for people with learning disabilities being forced to marry are most often associated with a desire on the part of families to secure permanent care, but can also be associated with cultural (mis)understandings of the nature of disability. These findings are contextualised by considering the relationship between forced marriage, human rights and learning disability.

Muslim Women and Forced Marriages in the UK

Forced marriage (FM) affects numerous communities within the UK and has far-reaching effects for both individuals and the wider society. This paper attempts to address this issue from an Islamic jurisprudence standpoint. While the paper provides a comparative-contrastive account of key discussions between Muslim jurists (fuqahā’) from the four Sunni schools of law regarding coercion (ikrāh) and its effect on the marriage contract, it pays particular attention to the Hanafi school of law’s position and ways in which its jurists’ reasoning dissents from that of the majority of Sunni jurists. This paper collates the pertinent information, focusing on the effect of coercion (ikrāh) and on the pivotal issues of consent (riḍā) and choice (ikhtyār). It also considers recent UK legislation and established personal status laws in several Muslim countries. We conclude that FM is incompatible with the objectives of Islamic law and has no reliable basis in its sources, highlighting that the function of the guardian (walī) is to protect the interests of the ward, rather than to exercise authority over those under his guardianship. We suggest that victims of FM in the UK should be able to seek annulment via the courts rather than traditional, community-based, non-enforceable mediation.

The Multiple Pathways to Trauma Recovery, Vindication, and National Reconciliation in Cambodia

Trauma theory has long been confined to the domain of psychology with a concern for clinical situations and vignettes. The framing of trauma as an individual or psychological problem is unable to explain what causes changes in public attitudes toward trauma victims because it fails to recognize the collective dynamics and social dimension of trauma. The collective dynamics of trauma have emerged as a vital theme in recent works including constructivist sociological models of collective trauma representations and of the changing impact of international norms. This article engages with these models in the context of the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge and explores the shifts in public perceptions of formerly stigmatized survivors, considering that trauma recovery is a never‐ending process with an uncertain outcome. It is argued that the public perception of what constitutes individual trauma and who is acknowledged as victim depends largely on cultural and political contexts. Field interviews with several victims of forced marriages, a mental health expert, and a former judge illustrate what needs to be done to help traumatized survivors find closure and obtain reparations.

Forced marriage: implications for mental health and intellectual disability services

SummaryThere has been growing media and political awareness of forced marriage in recent years, and individuals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are now protected by the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007. Victims of forced marriage can experience significant abuse, which may lead to mental health problems. People with severe mental illness or intellectual disability may be at increased risk of forced marriage and more vulnerable to its negative consequences. We review the current literature on forced marriage, focusing on the way it might affect these two groups, touch on its potential mental health consequences and give practical examples of how to manage situations in clinical practice.

Shariah Perspective on Marriage Contract and Practice in Contemporary Muslim Societies

Forced marriages are worldwide phenomena and also exist in Pakistani society. It involves the lack of free and full consent of at least one of the parties to a marriage. Mostly, females are victims of forced marriages. It is prevalent in the name of religion in many Muslim countries; however, it is purely a traditional and cultural phenomenon which has nothing to do with religion. Forced marriages are different from arranged marriages in which both parties freely consent to enter into marriage contract and they have no objection on the choice of partner selected by their parents. This study will highlights different forms of forced marriages in Pakistani society. Index Terms--Child marriage, elements of marriage contract in Islam, forced marriage, honor killings, marriage in Shariah Language: en

The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007

The government has acknowledged that midwives, along with other health professionals, are ideally placed to offer early and effective advice and support to women who are the victims of forced marriage (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 2007). It is essential that midwives are aware of the measures that can be taken to help and protect women who are the victims of forced marriage through the provisions of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007.

A district nurse’s guide to the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007

The government considers forced marriage to be a form of domestic abuse with some 3000 cases reported to the forced marriage unit each year in the UK. Both the Home Office and the Foreign and commonwealth office consider health professionals, such as district nurses, to be ideally placed to identify, help and support the victims of forced marriage. To do this effectively district nurses must be aware of the provisions of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007.

How much do women count if they not counted?

The condition of women throughout the world is marked by countless injustices and violations of the most fundamental rights established by the Universal Declaration of human rights and every culture is potentially prone to commit discrimination against women in various forms. Women are worse fed, more exposed to physical violence, more exposed to diseases and less educated; they have less access to, or are excluded from, vocational training paths; they are the most vulnerable among prisoners of conscience, refugees and immigrants and the least considered within ethnic minorities; from their very childhood, women are humiliated, undernourished, sold, raped and killed; their work is generally less paid compared to men’s work and in some countries they are victims of forced marriages. Such condition is the result of old traditions that implicit gender-differentiated education has long promoted through cultural models based on theories, practices and policies marked by discrimination and structured differentially for men and women. Within these cultural models, the basic educational institutions have played and still play a major role in perpetuating such traditions. Nevertheless, if we want to overcome inequalities and provide women with empowerment, we have to start right from the educational institutions and in particular from school, through the adoption of an intercultural approach to education: an approach based on active pedagogy and on methods of analysis, exchange and enhancement typical of socio-educational animation. The intercultural approach to education is attentive to promote the realisation of each individual and the dignity and right of everyone to express himself/herself in his/her own way. Such an approach will give women the opportunity to become actual agents of collective change and to get the strength and wellbeing necessary to count and be counted as human beings entitled to freedom and equality, and to have access to all the rights set out in Declarations, Covenants and Conventions.

Quanto contano le donne se non sono contate

The condition of women throughout the world is marked by countless injustices and violations of the most fundamental rights established by the Universal Declaration of human rights and every culture is potentially prone to commit discrimination against women in various forms. Women are worse fed, more exposed to physical violence, more exposed to diseases and less educated; they have less access to, or are excluded from, vocational training paths; they are the most vulnerable among prisoners of conscience, refugees and immigrants and the least considered within ethnic minorities; from their very childhood, women are humiliated, undernourished, sold, raped and killed; their work is generally less paid compared to men’s work and in some countries they are victims of forced marriages. Such condition is the result of old traditions that implicit gender-differentiated education has long promoted through cultural models based on theories, practices and policies marked by discrimination and structured differentially for men and women. Within these cultural models, the basic educational institutions have played and still play a major role in perpetuating such traditions. Nevertheless, if we want to overcome inequalities and provide women with empowerment, we have to start right from the educational institutions and in particular from school, through the adoption of an intercultural approach to education: an approach based on active pedagogy and on methods of analysis, exchange and enhancement typical of socio-educational animation. The intercultural approach to education is attentive to promote the realisation of each individual and the dignity and right of everyone to express himself/herself in his/her own way. Such an approach will give women the opportunity to become actual agents of collective change and to get the strength and wellbeing necessary to count and be counted as human beings entitled to freedom and equality, and to have access to all the rights set out in Declarations, Covenants and Conventions.

Praise the lord and say no to men: Older women empowering themselves in Samia, Kenya

In rural western Kenya, older Samia women, often victims of forced marriage in youth, are refusing traditional widow inheritance (remarriage) and renewed male domination after a husband's death. They make their refusals in the strategic public discourse of funeral speeches. The ability of older women to bring about change in female roles and power is related to their positions in extended families and support from 'saved' Christians. Examination of Samia women's everyday resistance to patriarchal power reveals the dynamics of gender relations within the overlapping power structures of kinship hierarchies, marriage, and religion (Christianity). It is also an example of religious renewal as a force in social change.