ABSTRACT
This chapter is a reflection of the lived experience of the authors, gained from supporting women and girls from Black Minority Ethnic (BME) communities with learning difficulties, experiencing forced marriage in Scotland. We clarify the circumstances, risks and responses that BME women and girls with learning difficulties experience when faced with forced marriage. We have attempted to expose their experiences by framing them in the context of their community cultures (mainly South Asian) and in relation to the concept of Honour, the service response from those who are meant to safeguard women and girls with learning difficulties from harm. We frame the experience of forced marriage for women and girls with learning difficulties as a form of gender-based violence while exploring the interaction of immigration and concepts such as Honour on both survivor and perpetrators’ behaviour. In the latter part of the chapter, we focus on professionals’ responses to those experiencing forced marriage and their interactions with forced marriage legislation in Scotland.
