Sibel SAFI PhD^

Abstract. Forced marriage is a practice that occurs worldwide and it affects a minority of women in different continents and cultures, which has been largely hidden in the UK among migrant communities and Turkey until very recently. It has ramifications for its victims both physically and psychologically with increased chance of violence towards those who have been forced into a marriage, it also takes away some of their fundamental human rights.

The potential victims have few alternatives, if he / she is fortunate to escape her / his home country in time; asylum is a particularly important remedy for them that must be opened up in order to protect their right to life. The 1951 Geneva Convention on the status of refugees offers the basic definition and the problem emerges when the serious human rights violations like dowry burnings, honour killings, forced marriage that do not clearly has its base on one of these Convention grounds which can constitute a legitimate premise for refugee recognition.

And in case of asylum applications, such type of gender related persecution have often been seen as a private or domestic issue and a further barrier to the recognition of gender-related persecution within current definitions and interpretations of the Geneva Convention is the way in which persecutory practices which may be common in ‘Third world’ countries are assigned to cultural differences and the methods of interpreting Particular Social Group utilized in judicial systems, creates lack of uniformity that resulting in inconsistent judgments and unjust disparities. This research will provide the current situation in UK and Turkey, then will evaluate the international protection by proposing reform in granting refugee status.

Keywords: forced marriage, legislation, UK, Turkey, Act, Refugee Convention