title: A Moral Panic? The Problematization of Forced Marriage in British Newspapers.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: University of Lincoln, UK sanitha@lincoln.ac.uk a.gill@roehampton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sundari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anitha
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, UK.
authors.forename: Aisha K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Gill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003068:Coercion; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009014:Morals; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012940:Social Problems; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014933:Women's Rights; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: forced marriage; immigration policy; moral panic; problematization; violence against women