Sundari Anitha

Neither safety nor justice: the UK government response to domestic violence against immigrant women

Based on research findings, this article examines the extent to which Labour governments policy towards immigrant women experiencing domestic violence responds to their needs. The research itself was conducted in 2007 and included qualitative interviews with 30 South Asian women with no recourse to public funds due to their status as recent marriage migrants, who were living in the North West and Yorkshire regions of England. The working of a key concession within the Immigration Rules (2002) which theoretically offers an opportunity of exit to immigrant women facing domestic violence – the Domestic Violence Rule – is examined in light of the reality of South Asian womens experiences, including the nature of domestic violence they face, their patterns of help‐seeking, pathways out of the abusive relationship and their experience of service provision. The central thesis of this paper is that the effectiveness of this legislation is severely hampered by a failure to take into account the multiple dimensions of disadvantage that recent marriage migrants face.

The illusion of protection? An analysis of forced marriage legislation and policy in the UK

This article examines the background, provisions and implications of the 2007 Forced Marriage Civil Bill, with specific regard to the UK governments present efforts to address the problem of forced marriage. It maps the tensions inherent in the creation of civil and criminal legislation to tackle forced marriage in the UK. The debates on the origins, design and workings of the 2007 Forced Marriage Civil Protection Act are considered, as are its implications for victims, prosecutors and criminal law in general. By exploring how the dominant discourses on forced marriage have shaped recent legislation, and the states response to this problem (focused myopically on the legal system), this article evaluates how effective forced marriage legislation is for protecting vulnerable black and minority ethnic (BME) women in the UK, while also offering reflections on the current challenges confronting attempts to implement legal measures.

A Moral Panic? The Problematization of Forced Marriage in British Newspapers

This article examines the British media’s construction of forced marriage (FM) as an urgent social problem in a context where other forms of violence against women are not similarly problematized. A detailed analysis of four British newspapers over a 10-year period demonstrates that media reporting of FM constitutes a moral panic in that it is constructed as a cultural problem that threatens Britain’s social order rather than as a specific form of violence against women. Thus, the current problematization of FM restricts discursive spaces for policy debates and hinders attempts to respond to this problem as part of broader efforts to tackle violence against women.

The social and institutional context of throughcare and aftercare services for prison drug service clients, with a focus on Black and minority ethnic prisoners

This paper examines the social and institutional context of barriers to drug service throughcare and aftercare for prisoners in England and Wales, including those that specifically affect Black and minority ethnic prisoners. A research project in 2004 reviewed relevant literature and statistical data, mapped prison drug services, and sought the perspectives of relevant stakeholders: in total, 334 individuals were recruited to the study. The methodology facilitates analysis of the structure of services and the agency prisoner in accessing them. Recommendations are made for changes to the structure and delivery of prison drug services.