Att utöva våld i hederns namn har historiskt sätt existerat länge och kvinnor som gjorde sig skyldiga till utomäktenskapliga eller föräktenskapliga relationer fick allvarliga påföljder. Syftet med studien var att se hur olika yrkesverksamheter så som kvinnojouren, polisen, kuratorer och barnmorskor arbetar och samarbetar i hedersrelaterade ärenden och undersökt vilka komplikationer kan förekomma. Fjorton deltagare intervjuades. Hedersrelaterat våld präglas av patriarkala kulturer som innefattar hierarkisystem där underordnade individer tar skuld för skam. Resultatet visar att isoleringen från samhället och det sociala livet börjar stegvis och i tidig ålder. Det börjar att flickorna måste minska sociala umgängeskretsen därefter minskar de på träningstimmarna och desto äldre flickan blir desto mer ökar familjens kontrollbehov. Det är viktigt för yrkespersonerna att i detta sammanhang fånga upp signaler och upptäcka ”lindrigare våld” som kan tyda på hedersrelaterad problematik. Hedersrelaterat våld är ett komplext i den meningen att varje fall är unikt och problematikens grad varierar från fall till fall detta gäller även graden av våld och förtryck.

This study primarily sets out to examine the cultural practice of child marriage in Africa with a focus on the comparative study of South Africa and Nigeria. This practice has been prohibited in a number of international human rights instruments such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right on the Rights of Women in Africa. However, overwhelming statistics show that the overall prevalence of child marriage in Africa is still very high and if current trends continue, Africa will become a region with the largest number of the global share of child marriages, by 2050. Different interconnecting factors promote and reinforce child marriage which makes this practice very complex. The challenge of cultural traditional practices and religious beliefs that promote child marriage in Africa are evaluated in this study. The complexities surrounding these cultural practices mainly relate to the conflict that exists between adhering to customs and traditional practices, and promoting the practical implementations and enforcement of human rights standards within communities. In particular, the age at which most girls are given out in marriage conflicts with the minimum legal age of marriage, lack of free and full consent to marriage and the mixed legal system, which mainly comprises of customary law, Islamic law and common or civil law and legislation, that often conflict with one another in most African States. Discussions on these contradictions, as in the case of child marriage, often lead to a seemingly endless debate between the universality of human rights and cultural relativism within African societies. Therefore, this study bears heavily on the debate and relationship between culture and human rights, and the extent to which they can be reconciled in order to achieve a realisation of the fundamental rights of the girl-child. A qualitative research method based on an extensive literature analysis from different disciples is adopted. In addition, is a comparative study of South Africa and Nigeria which seeks to provide insight into the nature and extent of the practice of child marriage, as well as evaluate the adequacy, effectiveness and shortcomings of national legislations that relate to the rights of a girl-child in the context of child marriage, in both jurisdictions.

The aim of this study was to research school counselor’s ways to identify, endorse andprotect students who are at risk to being or is a victim of forced marriage. To fulfill theaim of the study I have interviewed five -school counselor’s through semi- structuredinterviewing about their experiences with students and forced marriage. In this studypower is the theoretical concept which helped analyze the data. The perspectives onpower that this study brings up are suppressive and productive power relations. Theresults of this study are divided into seven categories which I name: To identify studentswho risk being or is a victim of forced marriage, to endorse students who risk being oris a victim of forced marriage, to protect students who risk being or is a victim of forcedmarriage, forced marriage and honor, forced marriage and social rank, forcedmarriage and religion and lastly forced marriage and family. The results of this studyshow that school counselor’s can identify students who is a victim of forced marriageby recognizing the students well being, if the student willingly tells the school counselorthat the student is scared to be forced to marry, if a student is restricted from dressinghow the student pleases or if the student is being controlled by a family member. Toendorse the students the school counselor’s call social services for advice, speak to thestudent’s family members and build a trustworthy relationship with the student. Toprotect the students who are a victim of forced marriage the school counselor’s callsocial services so that social services can take the student away from its home. Oneschool counselor claimed that they together with the student planned to put a metalspoon in the students suitcase, in case the student would be taken outside the country byforce so that the student can’t pass the security guard. The results of this study alsoshow that the school counselor’s had different understandings on why forced marriageis being carried on such as honor reasons, rank reasons, religious reasons or familyreasons.

Grace Gospel Church (GGC) is a small congregation that has met in various venues in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal since 2003. It is a partner church of the Mauritian-based organisation, Church Team Ministries International (CTMI), led by Miki Hardy. Hardy is a pastor who claims to have received a unique revelation from God, and he is considered to be an apostle by his followers. Grace Gospel Church and Church Team Ministries International have gained international attention due to claims that they exert a controversial influence over their members. This influence appears to induce a radical commitment to the partner church and CTMI, leading to behavioural, career and study changes, arranged marriages and estrangement between members and their families. Grace Gospel Church has been accused of being a cult, and this exploratory research questions whether this accusation has justification by comparing the group’s theology and practices against theological, psychological and sociological research on cults. Cult researcher Janja Lalich’s theory of “bounded choice” is described and used to evaluate the commitment witnessed in GGC. Bounded choice exists when, as a result of psycho-social group dynamics, a personal fusion occurs between the individual and the ideology and mores of the group. Out of this fusion, a charismatically committed “true believer” emerges who may appear to have personal freedom, but whose palette of choices is severely curtailed by the beliefs and practices of the group. “Bounded” decision making results which might appear irrational or repugnant to those outside the group, but to true believers represent their highest aspirations. This research indicates that GGC shares many characteristic features of typical cults and also promotes the conditions necessary for bounded choice to occur. It is thus concluded that GGC could legitimately be termed a cult, and that bounded choice is a valid explanation for the controversial choices made by its members. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The aim of this bachelor essay was to study the phenomenon of forced marriage among women who are living in Sweden with another ethnic and cultural background than Swedes. To investigate different kinds of marriage settings, the honor culture, honor violence and murder in connection to forced marriage. The following question has been formulated: What are the respondent’s experiences and/or interpretation of the phenomenon of forced marriage? Five interviews have been conducted with women who have different interpretations, experiences or knowledge within the phenomenon of forced marriage, such as own experiences, experiences from family members and knowledge from professionals. Radical feministic theory was used for the interpretation of the result. The result shows that the women in the study shared many opinions regarding the consequences, interpretations and experiences connected to the phenomenon such as limited freedom and lack of education and employment opportunities.

The purpose of the study was to identify causes and consequences of early marriages in Lusikisiki. The population of this study is a convenience sample from Lusikisiki. The researcher thought that this was appropriate because these subjects would be sharing their personal experiences in the form of case studies. The ages of subjects that were interviewed were 40 years & 47 years old (both married early) and those that married late were both 50 years old. The idea that guided the study was an exploratory one aimed at understanding the phenomenon of early marriage. The aim was to explore the following ideas: Young girls are being given into marriage at their early age by their parents because of the bride price (ilobola)Women that are given into marriage early feel victimized by this process early marriage disrupts the school pattern of young girls Men are the main beneficiaries of early marriage.

Magister Legum - LLM / Forced marriages and child marriages1 are a global and major concern when dealing with girl children’s and women’s rights. UNICEF statistics2 show that in South Africa alone 1% of girls were married by 15 years and 6% by 18 years.3While these numbers are insignificant, they arguably contribute to a global crisis where girls of primary school age are forced into marriage.4 This mini-thesis will focus on ukuthwala, a customary practice which is prevalent in the rural parts of South Africa, where girls and young women are married off. Moral reasons exist for the custom, however in recent years it has changed radically. Ukuthwala is most prevalent in the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal provinces.6 It has been described as a ‘romantic mock abduction’ of an unmarried woman by a man who intends to marry her.7 According to Bekker and Koyana8 the procedure for ukuthwala is as follows: ‘The intending bridegroom, with one or two friends, will waylay the intended bride in the neighbourhood of her own home, quite often late in the day, towards sunset or at early dusk, and they will “forcibly” take her to the young man’s home. Sometimes the girl is “caught” unawares, but in many instances, she is caught according to plan and agreement. In either case, she will put up a show of resistance to suggest to onlookers that it is all against her will when in fact, it is hardly ever so’. While ukuthwala involves kidnapping a girl or young woman, the intention is to compel her or her family to endorse marriage negotiations.9 This therefore means, by custom, the suitor should report the thwala to his kraal head in order to commence lobolo10 negotiations.11 During this time consensual sex with the young girl is forbidden. Koyana and Bekker further explain that the girl or young woman is immediately placed in the midst and care of the womenfolk; and is treated with ‘utmost kindness and respect’,12 until such time that the marriage requirements are met.

Forced marriage is generally viewed as a clash between culture and gender and the fact that men are also victims, in a small number of cases, escapes attention of policy makers and activists. While the overall approach to forced marriage has helped men as well they, however, have remained below the radar of public concern. A problem particular to men is their unwillingness to articulate in public forums their predicament as questions of masculinity are then raised. Ultimately men will have to break the silence, organize and mobilize collectively if they wish to see specific policies that target men.

Previous literature introduced forced marriage as a tool to socialize combatants and increase group cohesion. Yet, explanations for why armed groups select forced marriage, and for the variation in the occurrence of forced marriage across armed groups are lacking. The question guiding this study, then, is why do some armed groups enforce marriage, when others do not?I argue that armed groups with forced recruitment are more likely to enforce marriages, because they are confronted with an abductor’s dilemma. They need to socialize forced recruits quicklyto establish allegiance. The short time-frame makes norm-compliance strategies less feasible,while increasing the potential of role-learning mechanisms. Forced marriage best fits the rolelearning socialization, thus is more likely to occur if role-learning is prioritized. The hypothesisand causal mechanism are tested in a combination of process tracing and controlled comparison of the Khmer Rouge and the Liberation Tigers in Tamil Eelam. Empirical evidence is derived from a systematic review of primary and secondary literature. The study finds moderate support for the hypothesis. The causal mechanism finds no support. However, these findings should betreated with caution, due to limitations and biases of the study.

Syftet med denna studie var att sprida ljus över det svenska bemötandet av den så kallade ‘hederskulturen’. Studien gör detta genom att undersöka svenska myndigheter och svenska ideella verksamheter, med ett distinkt fokus på kvinnan, och tvångsäktenskap som en del av den tidigare nämnda hederskulturen. Tidigare forskning har visat att den svenska kulturen och hederskulturen är varandras motsatser. Forskningen har också påvisat komplexiteten av att existera inom hederskulturen, speciellt i Sverige, och hur detta kan påverka den enskilda individen (i detta fall kvinnan) på olika sätt. Vad tidigare forskning inte har visat är på vilket sätt Sverige hanterar den problematiska hederskulturen och denna studie ämnade då att fylla den kunskapsluckan. För att undersöka hur myndigheter och ideella verksamheter bemöter hederskulturen ställdes följande forskningsfrågor; hur ser svenska myndigheter och ideella organisationer på den svenska hedersutsatta kvinnan när det gäller tvångsäktenskap? Vad är kvinnans ställning inom den svenska kulturen och vad är hennes ställning inom hederskulturen? Hur sker det praktiska bemötandet av hederskulturen? För att besvara forskningsfrågorna genomfördes sex semistrukturerade intervjuer baserade på ett målinriktat urval. Genom att använda den ‘mångkulturella triaden’ och ‘individ- och gruppcentrerat tankesätt’ som ett teoretiskt ramverk visade det sig att den individuella kvinnan är en del av två kollektiv; hederskulturen och den svenska kulturen, som i sin tur kan leda till en inre och yttre konflikt. Därtill visade det sig att även fast Sverige är ett individualistiskt land, så arbetar myndigheter ibland med ett gruppcentrerat tankesätt. Resultatet visade att bemötandet av hederskulturen skiljer sig från ideell organisation till organisation, men även mellan de ideella verksamheterna och myndigheter och drar slutsatsen att ett holistiskt och systematiskt bemötande är nödvändigt. / The purpose of this qualitative study was to highlight the Swedish treatment of the so-called ‘honour culture’. It does so by examining Swedish authorities and Swedish non-profit organisa­tions, with a distinct focus on the woman and on forced marriage as part of said honour culture. Previous research has shown that Swedish culture and honour culture are opposites. It has also shown that the complexity of existing within the honour culture, especially in Sweden, and how it can affect the individual woman in different ways. It has however not shown the distinct way Sweden deals with the problematic honour culture itself. To investigate how authorities and non-profit organisations deal with honour culture the following research questions were asked; how does Swedish authorities and non-profit organisations view the Swedish woman, affected by honour culture, in regards of forced marriage? What are the women’s standing within honour culture and what is their standing within the Swedish culture? How does Swedish authorities and non-profit organisations deal with honour culture? To answer the research questions six semi structured interviews were performed based on a strategic selection process. Using ‘the multicultural triad’ and ‘individual and group-centred mindset’ as theoretical framework it is shown that the individual woman in this case is a part of two collectives; the honour culture and the Swedish culture which can result in conflict. It is further shown that though Sweden is an individualistic country its governmental treatment is sometimes group centred. The results show that the treatment of honour culture differ from organisation to organisation, but also between organisations and authorities and concludes that a holistic and systematic treatment is needed.