An Examination of the Lifelong Relationships of Control Resulting in and from Forced Marriages within British South Asian Communities in the UK

Abstract

This research advances the processual understanding of forced marriage (Chantler and McCarry, 2020) as experienced by British South Asian women by demonstrating the varying degrees of coercion and control women experience before, during and after forced marriage. A qualitative research approach used feminist epistemology to explore gendered control at the intersection of family, kinship relationships, intergenerational power, ‘honour’, shame, age, race, religion, citizenship, marriage, culture and community. The study involved biographical narrative interviews with female victim-survivors of forced marriage (n=6); semi-structured interviews with practitioners (n=7) and wider members of the British South Asian community (n=6).

A thematic analysis determined key themes. Firstly, the ‘before’ stage highlights the gendered socialisation into ‘honour’, shame, conformity and control in women’s formative years, culminating in their capitulation to parents’ wishes about marriage. Secondly, the ‘during’ stage is characterised by a ‘web of control’ operating through multiple perpetrators (natal family, husband, marital family, the wider community) at multiple levels, cumulatively preventing women from leaving the marriage. Lastly, the ‘after’ stage is rife with punishment for choosing to leave—disownment by parents; continued invalidation of women’s experiences by ex-husbands, natal family and community. Victim-survivors in the study report inconsistent responses from schools, social workers and health services. Interviews with practitioners highlight their strive to attain a nuanced understanding of forced marriage to aid thorough risk assessment; tease out the distinction between arranged and forced marriage; and address the nervousness accompanying this culturally and racially sensitive topic. This research addresses a lag in the overall conceptualisation of forced marriage by positing that the control experienced by racially minoritised victims-survivors of forced marriage is of an ongoing and lifelong nature, substantiating the process-based understanding of this form of violence against women. This research makes an original contribution by expanding Stark’s (2007) concept of coercive control to encompass the complex family structures and multiple perpetrators that shape British South Asian women’s cumulative experiences of control before, during and after forced marriage.