Causes and Impacts of Forced Marriages

Abstract

Forced marriage is recognized as a heartless act, even when there is no sexual assault or slavery is involved and the convention against slavery perceives such type of marriage as practiced slavery in which individual has no choice to enter or exit from the marriage. The lack of knowledge in families is one of the primary cause of early and forced marriage. According to Pakistani sources, the Pakistani court has failed to provide justice or begin legal procedures in situations involving claims of forced marriage. In Islam, forced marriage is prohibited. No one can be coerced into marriage against their choice, and this practise is not sanctioned by the Shari'ah. Forcible marriage occurs for a variety of reasons. There are different reasons behind forced marriage. It differs depending on the location's culture, customs, economic system, and political system. Poverty is one of the leading causes of forced marriage. They don't have enough money to meet their basic requirements due to poverty. As a result, they marry their daughters when they are quite young. The research aimed to trace forced marriages in District Mandi Bahauddin. The main objectives of the research were; to find out the reasons behind forced marriages, to study the impact and consequences of forced marriage, and to examine the domestic violence against females where forced marriage has taken place. The research was qualitative in nature. Further utilized the case study method to understand the nature of the work. The total sample census of my research was 89 from all over the village. The sample was selected through purposive sampling techniques. Rapport building is the first step of the fieldwork. In this step, the researcher makes friendly relationships with the members of the village and of the city. She will follow their dress and food patterns. He or she gives respect to their custom and traditions. It can be a state of harmonious knowledge with another person or community. In qualitative research, key informants play an important role during fieldwork. The key informants were Shahnaz, Rida, Saima, and Hafsa. The participant observation method was used for the collection of data. Focused group discussion, formal and informal discussions, and indepth interviews were conducted. The languages of this city are Punjabi and Urdu. It is concluded that forced marriage is caused due to several factors like Poverty, Norms, and Traditions of Family‘, Traditional kinship‘, Endogamy Rule‘ and Marriage for Nationality. All these factors result in unsuccessful marriage and in many cases, it leads to divorce.