Abandonment of Women: Practice and Issues Across India and UK

Introduction

The phenomenon of transnational marriage abandonment involves the abandonment

of foreign national wives in their country of origin by their husbands who are
nationals or residents of another country.

Southall Black Sisters’ casework experience in the UK shows that this is an emerging
form of violence against women that occurs in transnational spaces due to the
overlapping processes of migration and marriage, especially in the context spanning
the UK and the Indian sub-continent. It takes many forms but is essentially a gendered
phenomenon and is part of a continuum of violence and coercion experienced by
women at the hands of abusive and exploitative partners.

The appalling accounts of abuse and abandonment are also echoed by women from
Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere. At the heart of their experiences lies the
disconcerting ways in which the imperatives of patriarchal and immigration controls
intersect, resulting in abandoned women being trapped in abusive and limping
marriages in circumstances that involve the deliberate infraction of their legal rights
to protection, support and rehabilitation. They are unable to access their legal rights in
relation to divorce or financial and property settlements, and are left to fend for
themselves entirely alone. Their position is compounded by state apathy and
inadequate transnational legal mechanisms for obtaining redress and justice.

Media reports in India, corroborated by non-governmental organisations and

government institutions, suggest a growing problem of the abandonment of wives by
Indian-origin men who are residents of another country. Abandonment can take three
forms:

(a) a woman, migrating after marriage to her Indian-origin husband’s country of

residence, may be ousted or (less commonly) flee after a period of abuse;

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(b) a woman who has migrated with her husband after marriage may be deceived into
returning to India for a vacation and abandoned there, while her husband returns and
revokes her visa;

(c) a woman may be left behind in India after marriage while her husband goes back
with assurances that he will sponsor her visa, but the woman is left with her in-laws
and is eventually ousted from their home or leaves because of domestic violence.

Women in the first category now have access to limited support in the UK in the form
of housing and welfare benefits. Before 2002, marriage migrants abandoned
following domestic violence were routinely deported to their country of origin, often
to face further abuse from their families for not ‘making the marriage work’. The
Labour government passed the Domestic Violence Rule in 2002 in response to
campaigns from women’s organisations. These changes made it possible for a woman
to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK if she could prove that her
marriage had broken down because of domestic violence. However, women with
insecure immigration status were prohibited from accessing public funds, which
meant that they could not be accommodated in women’s refuges. This rule left
women destitute while they were expected to apply for ILR. SBS and allied
organisations campaigned to change this, resulting in the Destitute Domestic Violence
(DDV) Concession of 2010, which gives women limited access to benefits while they
apply for ILR.

Women abandoned in their country of origin are often left at risk of poverty and
destitution, social stigma, and domestic abuse from natal family. Due to inadequate
transnational legal mechanisms, they are also left unable to access their legal rights to
a financial settlement, child support payments, and access to their children upon
divorce. In a context where marriage remains the primary marker of social status and
identity for women, abandoned women have limited means of living independently or
undertaking paid work, particularly in rural areas.

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Facts and Figures

These forms of transnational abandonment were analysed in a report based on a study

conducted in India by Dr Sundari Anitha and Prof Anupama Roy (funded by the
British Academy). The study involved interviews with 57 women in India who were
taken back to their home country and abandoned there or were never sponsored to
join their husband. 28 had been married to men resident in the UK, with smaller
numbers from countries including Italy, Australia and the USA. About two-fifth of
the women had migrated after marriage while the rest remained in India with their in-
laws.

There are 2.3 million separated and abandoned women in India, the number is huge,
approximately two times the number of divorced women as per the last census. There
are close to two million Hindu women who are abandoned and separated; this number
is 2.8 lakhs for Muslims, 0.9 lakh for Christians and 0.8 lakh for other religions.
However, no concrete steps have been taken to support these destitute women.

Most of the marriages had been hastily arranged, often within two weeks of the
proposal, which left little opportunity for the bride’s family to ascertain the
credentials of the groom. A majority of the women experienced physical violence
perpetrated by their husband, in-laws or both. A third of the research participants
disclosed sexual abuse perpetrated by their husband, while just under a quarter
disclosed sexual abuse by male in-laws. A fifth of the women had been coerced into
undergoing abortion(s).

Where women were left with their in-laws, they faced increasing dowry demands and
violence when they could not meet these demands. Many were also forced into
domestic servitude, and denied adequate food and lodgings. Following a period of
abuse, most women were abandoned by their husband or in-laws, often after being
taken to India on false pretenses.

By strategically abandoning their wives in their home countries, South Asian migrant
men made it nearly impossible for their wives to participate in legal proceedings in
the UK, thereby depriving them of their matrimonial rights such as an equitable

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financial settlement upon divorce, child custody and recovery of dowry or personal
property (stridhan). For example, following abandonment, ex-parte divorce
proceedings were frequently initiated by the husband, without the knowledge of most
women. In some cases where women wanted to challenge their divorce or engage in
legal proceedings, they could not obtain a visa to visit the UK or indeed any other
country in which their husband resided, and in most cases did not have the money to
mount a costly legal battle overseas. Some of the women did initiate legal action in
India against their husbands and in-laws, however most complaints ended in a
compromise agreement or were not pursued by the police. Very few of the women
received financial settlements upon divorce, and none received any maintenance for
their children or a return of their dowry or stridhan.

Often families face huge debts and financial ruin due to the high costs of hosting a
wedding and meeting ongoing dowry demands, not to mention coping with the social
consequences of stigma that also arise when married women are abandoned. But the
study also points to the crucial role played by the UK and other states in perpetuating
and exacerbating such violence through strict immigration controls and the lack of
effective legal mechanisms that can address violence committed across national
borders. It is this ensuing gap in protection that has enabled men to abuse and exploit
women with impunity.

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Legal Barrier

Women who come to the UK to marry have a period during which they are on
probationary stay – and in this period they cannot access any welfare benefits from
the govt. This includes housing benefit, income support etc. During this period, their
visa is also dependent on their husband and if the marriage ends, so does their visa.
Before 2002, women facing domestic violence had two ‘choices’ – to stay and put up
with the abuse, or to leave and lose their visa which meant being deported back to
India, Pakistan or their home country in South Asia, where they might face the stigma
of being a divorcee, and if they have children (who might be British citizens) it might
also mean separation from their children. For women abandoned in the UK, it is
possible for women to access a refuge and to claim ILR and stay on in the UK after
leaving the abusive marriage. But none of the women we spoke to were aware of this
right that they had. The few who were abandoned in the UK (this was the smallest
category of women we spoke to) managed to make their way back to India with help
from relatives, family friends etc.

The second biggest category were women taken back deceptively and abandoned. The
biggest category were women who were left with in-laws while they waited for a
spouse visa, which never materialised. After a period of abuse domestic servitude and
extraction of dowry (ranging from 2 months to 8 years), the women were thrown out.
In some cases, the husband visited during this period, and the women had children.
Following abandonment, ex-parte divorce proceedings were initiated by the husband.
These are proceedings where both parties do not have to be present, and the notice is
posted to the wife and she has 6 weeks to respond. Women were ignorant of the
proceedings or could not understand the letter. By the time they managed to find a
lawyer (and not all of them could), it was too late. Additionally, most women were
not aware that divorce could take place in this manner, so did not respond because the
law in India is very different. A few who did understand, could not represent
themselves in legal proceedings in another country. Some went to the embassy and
complained but did not receive any assistance there. Some of the women eventually
did initiate legal action in India against their husbands and in-laws, however most
complaints ended in a compromise agreement or were not pursued by the police.

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In some cases where men came to India, the police did not arrest them, arrested them
and were allegedly bribed to let them go (at which point they fled the country), or
dropped the complaint, or did not record the FIR. Some of the police officers we
interviewed expressed their frustration that they could do little if the men were
nationals of another country, or never returned to India. Men managed to transfer their
property to other members of their family so the women and their children would
have no claim to it. Very few of the women received financial settlement of any kind
upon divorce, and none received any maintenance for their children or return of their
dowry.

Eventually most women ended up living with their parents – but some of them
indicated that their presence was seen as a burden, for some their brothers saw them
as a threat to their inheritance, where there were children, women were worried that
once their parents died there would be no place for them in the home. Life was very
insecure for these women. Another reason for this is that most women did not recover
their dowry – so in some ways their so-called inheritance and source of financial
security was also taken from them.

In the recent years, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Women and
Child Development have taken certain steps, to help women who have been
abandoned in India. An inter-ministerial committee was set up that recommended that
either the properties of the husband or his relatives should be seized in such cases.
Such attachment of property is usually done in civil cases to either compel the
presence of the accused in the court or provide monetary support to the complainant
who would otherwise be hapless since the accused spouse usually does not respond to
court summons taking advantage of their location. This was the result of the recent
distress call that the Ministry of External Affairs received from NRI women between
January 1, 2015, and November 30, 2017. During the meeting, the decision to appoint
an integrated nodal agency under the WCD to look into complaints related to NRI
marriages too was taken. The government had also then decided that passports of the
NRI husbands would too be cancelled when such an issue of abandonment is brought
to the notice of the courts.

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However, earlier attempts were also made by the government to look into the issue of
abandoned wives after being married off into foreign countries. It was decided that
registration of all marriages will be linked to the women and child development
ministry’s website. But the same has still not been properly set up.

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Conclusion

Despite positive developments on violence against women worldwide, we continue to

witness an ever widening gap between legal prescription and the reality in relation to
violence against women. In an increasingly globalised world, the endemic nature of
violence against women coupled with draconian forms of immigration control and an
anti-immigration culture allows perpetrators, with the complicity of state authorities,
to enjoy impunity for violations that occur in transnational spaces.

In the West, abandonment within the context of marriage is generally not considered a
form of violence against women. In the case of transnational marriages, abandonment
is embedded within a pattern of domestic violence and coercive control exercised
over the woman. Additionally, by strategically abandoning their wives in their home
country and then filing for divorce in foreign courts, transnationally mobile South
Asian migrant men make it almost impossible for their wives to participate in legal
proceedings. These actions by husbands deprive women of their financial rights such
as an equitable settlement upon divorce, child custody and recovery of dowry.

Addressing the issues will require a range of mechanisms at local, national and
transnational arenas. Strengthening women’s organisations and specialist service
provision in India and in the countries with large Indian diasporas will help support
victims of abandonment in their quest for justice. However, it is only by addressing
the very structures that enhance women’s vulnerabilities that a lasting solution can be
found. We urgently need better protection of women’s human rights within and across
national boundaries. Not only will this enable perpetrators to be held to account, it
will also help dismantle the structures and processes because of which some men
perceive transnational wives as disposable women whose abuse is not a matter of
concern.

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