Forced Marriage, Coercive Control, and Conducive Contexts: The Experiences of Women in Scotland

Abstract

This paper is based on the first Scottish study of survivor perspectives of forced marriage. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight survivors. Our thematic analysis identified five key themes: understandings of forced marriage; the ‘grooming’ process; betrayal; legal responses and women’s resistance. Utilising Stark’s (2007) framework of coercive control and Kelly’s (2007) concept of conducive contexts, we illuminate hitherto under-appreciated dynamics of forced marriage: i) the conceptualisation of forced marriage as a process rather than an event, ii) the role of mothers within patriarchal contexts and iii) betrayals of family and services as compounding long-term adverse effects of forced marriage.