Forced marriage is triggered by loss of control over daughters’ sexuality, not immigration policy.

Evidence

Marriage is used in these two communities to reinforce kinship and job networks, although people marry from a wider pool than they normally would in their communities of origin. Marrying into the right family brings respect and status in the community as well as economic connections. Various forms of arranged marriages exist, but in general the less educated the family, the more traditional the practice. Families arranged transcontinental marriages because of the limited pool of marriage partners. In Bradford, for example, 50 per cent of the marriages were transcontinental ones, a figure that rose to 71 per cent in Oxford. The researchers estimate, drawing on police data and on the Southall Black Sisters, that there are two hundred cases a year of forced marriage. Significantly, ‘liaisons with the opposite sex are an important trigger for instigating the process of forced marriage.’ That is, families sought to push through arranged marriages without the consent of their children whenever they feared they would lose control of girls and women’s sexuality. Immigration was not an important factor in these arrangements. — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 323 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Forced marriage is triggered by families fearing loss of control over girls’ sexuality — Sherene Razack, Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims…, 323; Material exit options, not immigration control, protect women from forced marriage.; British Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities’ marriage practices stem from colonial displacement, not cultural difference.

Broader Connections

• Forced marriage is triggered by families fearing loss of control over girls’ sexuality #corroborates (0.98) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 323
• British Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities’ marriage practices stem from colonial displacement, not cultural difference. #complicates (0.75)