If a person with learning disabilities chooses to get married, provided they have the capacity to consent, they should get all the support they need.
However, we must protect individuals from harm and abuse if:
- They are forced to marry, or to enter a civil partnership against their will
- They do not have the capacity to consent to marriage or civil partnership
Our Forced Marriage Research
My Marriage My Choice – 2017
Exploring forced marriage of adults with learning disabilities and developing knowledge, policy, and practice to keep people safe.
What is My Marriage My Choice?
My Marriage My Choice started as a research project involving social work researchers at the University of Nottingham. It developed into an online space providing information and resources to people with learning disabilities, along with their friends and carers, and people working with them. It is also a useful space for anyone interested in learning more about forced and unlawful marriage.
The My Marriage My Choice project:
- Undertakes research about forced, unlawful, and predatory marriage
- Provides information for individuals, families, and professionals to help prevent forced marriage
- Campaigns against forced, unlawful, and predatory marriage, particularly instances involving people with learning disabilities
- Develops resources through working in partnership with researchers and people with first-hand experience of the issues.
My Marriage My Choice Resources
The project developed information and resources for people experiencing forced, unlawful, or predatory marriage, along with their families. They are also for people who may be at risk of experiencing unlawful or predatory marriage.
The My Marriage My Choice resources provide information and free training resources for professionals to help prevent forced, unlawful, or predatory marriages. This includes:
- Health and social care professionals
- People working in education and youth services
- Police and other criminal justice professionals
- Marriage registrars.
Finally, we also have resources which may be useful for policy makers and researchers, both in the UK and internationally.
Research Team
My Marriage My Choice started as a research project.
All of our resources are the result of collaboration between the original research team, the Ann Craft Trust, representatives from a range of professions, and survivors of forced marriage.
The original project team members were:
- Rachael Clawson (Principle investigator) (Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Nottingham)
- Rachel Fyson (Co-investigator) (Professor of Social Work, University of Nottingham)
- Michelle McCarthy (Co-investigator) (Professor in Learning Disabilities, University of Kent)
- Anne Patterson (Research Fellow, University of Nottingham)
- Luthfa Khan (Forced Marriage Project Lead, Respond)
- Deborah Kitson (CEO, Ann Craft Trust)
Forced Marriage of People with Learning Disabilities – 2010
In this project, we worked with other organisations, including Respond, the Judith Trust, and the Forced Marriage Unit, to raise awareness of the problem of forced marriage and the issues involved.
The project allowed us to produce national guidance and good practice to equip professionals to effectively deal with forced marriages of people with learning disabilities.
You can access the final report on this research project here.
In partnership with the Forced Marriage Unit, we developed the national guidance document Forced Marriage and Learning Disabilities: Multi Agency Practice Guidelines.