In the late 1990's, various British news agencies reported cases of British-born South Asian Muslim women who forced into marriages. In 2000, the UK government produced a study that determined there were 400 British cases of "forced marriages" reported to UK police in a two year period. In response to these findings, the UK government launched an educational prevention campaign, in which they defined forced marriage as "a marriage conducted without the valid consent of both parties". I argue that, while the aim of the UK government's campaign is to promote the right of choice in marriage, they do not critically examine legal, religious, political and economic issues that may limit the ability of some British South Asian Muslim women to exercise that right. This study examines these issues to develop a better understanding of the link between culture, religion and forced marriage in certain British South Asian Muslim families.

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