Disabled men at coercion risk

by NADEEM BADSHAH

MORE work is needed to educate families who look after a disabled child about the risk of forced marriages, campaigners said.

They have called for a change in approach towards disabilities after research showed that a higher number of men with learning difficulties are victims of forced marriage than previously thought.

Around 62 per cent of males with a learn­ing disability were pressured to wed, com­pared to 38 per of women – the opposite of overall cases where females make up the majority of victims.

The University of Nottingham study led to a film on the topic and guidance on assess­ing whether a person with a learning disabil­ity can consent to marriage. A screening of the film was held in March in London.

Experts pointed out that families are des­perate to find a carer for their disabled child following government cuts to disability al­lowance. Better education of laws making forced marriages a criminal offence will also help, activists said.

Dr Sundari Anitha, from the University of Lincoln who has done research into forced marriage cases, told Eastern Eye: “Disability allowance cuts and shrinking cuts to the welfare state is a factor.

“It is about educating families. There is a south Asian belief that marriage will cure mental health issues and it matures people.

“That is a misconception, but you see it in Hindi films, the idea that pregnancy will make them grow mentally. (Then) there is (also) a fear that when the parents die, what hap­pens to their disabled child?.

“There has been general publicity of the Forced Marriage Act. There is increased un­derstanding, but not among people with disabilities; it’s about working with commu­nities and families.”

Government figures show that in 2016, 140 forced marriages involved victims who had a learning disability, which represents 10 per cent of the overall cases reported.

Around two thirds of cases involved the British victim being pressured to wed in Pa­kistan, compared to nine per cent in Bangla­desh and eight per cent in India. And a fifth involved a person aged 31-40 years.

Dr Anitha added: “Often, because families are looking for carers, women tend to do the caring in Asian culture. It is less conceivable for families to get the women married off and for the husband to look after her.

“There are issues around the person giv­ing his consent and also safeguarding issues.

“Another problem is what happens to the women marrying them? Often they are from south Asia, and find out about the disability later. They become a domestic servant.”

The Easter break and summer holidays are common periods for families to take their child out of school to be married to a spouse in south Asia.

Mandy Sanghera, a government adviser on forced marriages and a human rights ac­tivist, told Eastern Eye: “It is great to see so much awareness. We have to recognise mo­tivating factors such as the disabled person having a carer and the stigma of disability in the Asian community.

“Better services and advice for families is needed. We need to be clear about protect­ing the most vulnerable in society.”

Parents who force their children to marry can be punished by up to seven years in prison under the Forced Marriage Act.

But last year, it emerged that only one in 30 suspected cases in England is leading to a prosecution. Between 2010-2017, there were 395 referrals to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), of which 268 prosecutions were completed.

Polly Harrar, from the Sharan Project which supports Asian victims, said: “Disclo­sures of forced marriage for those with learning disabilities is largely under-report­ed. For those who do not have the capacity to consent, they are often unaware of the re­sults this can have on their future.

“We would like to see more awareness of this issue to allow all communities and car­ers to better understand the support that is available, the health implications that forc­ing someone to marry can have and the risk of abuse they may face.

“One of the things that everyone can do is watch the short film produced by this re­search to identify the signs, the impact it can have on survivors and to know what to do if they or someone they know is at risk.

“There is also a toolkit that will be pub­lished shortly to support victims, profession­als, families and carers.

“In order to break the stigma around learning disabilities, it is vital that we start hav­ing conversations and accessing support.”