‘Abandoned Women’: Transnational Marriages and Gendered Legal Citizens

Domestic Violence in Cross-Border Marriages: A Systematic Review

“…Abandonment means a situation where women were refused visas to return to their husbands’ country of residence or where the migrant women come into the destination country only to discover the marriage was a sham (Anitha et al, 2018; Roy et al, 2019). Studies revealed that in cross-border marriages, couples must wait a long time before obtaining a spouse visa to join their partner’s abroad (Roy et al, 2019). Usually, the waiting period is so long that it threatens the union hence leading the husbands sometimes to abandon the wives with their parents and never come back and even discontinue the visa process (Chaudhuri et al, 2014).…”

“…It was argued by a researcher that immigration policies created barriers between migrants and citizens, such as family migration, mixed immigration status, family bias, fear of deportation all lead to separation (Griffiths, 2021). Studies also reported that where the man is the sponsor, the migrant wife is at risk of having her visa revoked by her foreign husband because of domestic violence (Anitha et al, 2018; Roy et al, 2019)). In South Korea, for instance, a study revealed that 19% of marriages between Korean husbands and foreign wives dissolved within 48 months of the marriage (Choi et al, 2020).…”

“…Usually, the waiting period is so long that it threatens the union hence leading the husbands sometimes to abandon the wives with their parents and never come back and even discontinue the visa process (Chaudhuri et al, 2014). Research reveal that these women later seek ex-parte divorce to free themselves from further violence from the husband’s family because some women reported sexual violation from elder men from the husband’s family, beaten, locked up, and denied the right to see their parents (Anitha et al, 2018; Chaudhuri et al, 2014; Roy et al, 2019).…”

“…This study reviewed systematically domestic violence in cross-border or international marriage among Asian women. Cross-border marriages is the marriage relationship between two national which is different from other type of marriages between persons from the same national but from different ethnic group called international and transnational marriage, respectively (Anitha et al, 2018; Buvinic et al, 2013; Roy et al, 2019). The rigorous review from six databases resulted in 58 articles related to cross-border marriage among Asian women.…”

“…They are also vulnerable to abandonment (Roy et al, 2019; Sha, 2020), racism(Collet, 2012; Decimo, 2020; Tschirhart, Diaz, & Ottersen, 2019), they try their best to be responsible daughters to their families in their countries (Jongwilaiwan & Thompson, 2013; Straiton et al, 2019). They also risk revocation of their visa where the husband is the donor (Roy et al, 2019) and soon become homeless (Sha, 2020) hence prone to all manner of abuse which is a risk factor for them (Bélanger & Haemmerli, 2019; Moses & Woesthoff, 2019). Because they are far from home, they do not have a voice in the destination country as such when they are domestically violated, the citizens tend to overlook than help them (Carver, 2016; Williams, 2010b; Williams & yu, 2006).…”