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This paper critically evaluates the UK’s policy responses to forced marriage through a postmodernist lens. Utilising data from the UK Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), which supported 302 cases in 2022 involving possible forced marriage or female genital mutilation, this paper highlights the complexity of addressing forced marriage as a human rights violation. To begin, the paper discusses three primary policy approaches employed by the UK in combatting forced marriages, which are regulation, exit, and community engagement. Through a postmodernist analysis, this paper critiques the essentialist view of forced marriage as a cultural problem and argues for a more nuanced understanding that incorporates diverse experiences and intersecting sociological, political, and economic factors. Due to this, this paper recommends removing forced marriage from the ‘honour-based abuse’ category and advocates for the implementation of reliable data-collecting methods to better address this issue.
Aiyesha Swarnn (Wed,) studied this question.