South Asian Muslim women’s experiences of divorce in Scotland

This article provides an in-depth exploration of the experiences of eight Muslim women who were divorced or sought to be divorced in Scotland. Scotland is distinct within the UK in facilitating the civil registration of marriage by a religious celebrant, but divorce may still require separate legal and religious procedures. We found that participants were disempowered when husbands utilised Islamic processes to end marriages, leaving women without financial support and to initiate legal proceedings. Scottish family law creates a new set of challenges, especially when children are involved and/or finances have to be agreed upon. Civil and Islamic processes were weaponised to control women’s marital and financial status, a phenomenon that can be understood through a gendered lens and within the context of domestic abuse and coercive control. Further research is needed to understand how far the experiences here are representative within and outside the Muslim community in Scotland.