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

Clawson, Rachael; Fyson, Rachel

Abstract

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.

Citation

Clawson, R., & Fyson, R. (2017). Forced marriage of people with learning disabilities: a human rights issue. Disability and Society, 32(6), 810-830. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1320271

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 13, 2017
• Online Publication Date: May 19, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 3, 2017
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 20, 2018
• Journal: Disability & Society
• Print ISSN: 0968-7599
• Electronic ISSN: 1360-0508
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 810-830
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1320271
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/861216
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1320271
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Disability & Society on 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09687599.2017.1320271
• Contract Date: May 26, 2017