Arranged/Forced Marriages: At the Intersection of Gender, Violence, and Sexuality

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An unjust social tradition can only be addressed when it is fully understood. This comparative and empirical research study aims to investigate the phenomenon of arranged and forced marriages in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and diagram out its multifaceted societal implications. Through the implementation of interdisciplinary and theoretical frameworks from various fields, including gender and peace studies, the researcher intends to comprehend the role that such orchestrated or involuntary marriages serve in the community, culture, and daily lives of Kurdish women and men. This study also aims to examine a range of tangential topics, such as female sexuality or promiscuity and its dialectical connection to a family's presumed "honour", the social value of women's virginity, and perceived moral violations which can result in "honour killings" against women to avenge offended families. Additional examined variables include the socio-cultural function of female genital mutilation (FGM), reproduced gender roles and communal discourses on masculinity in the KRI, and current women's political developments for more agency in the public sphere. By deploying qualitative and quantitative research methods, including interviews with women and men on the ground in the KRI, the researcher aspires to fill in the identified literature gaps on forced and arranged marriages and its ecosystem of surrounding issues. In so doing, the research will illuminate the vital links between daily life and collective action, while meditating on women's existence, and displaying the intertwined complexities that characterize their lives. Such discoveries are of interest to academia, human rights organizations, international institutions, European Union states with sizeable Kurdish diaspora populations, and the Kurdistan Regional Government, so that they can formulate coherent policies to prevent gender-based violence and achieve greater equality.