Marriage Migration as a Multifaceted System: The Intersectionality of Intimate Partner Violence in Cross-Border Marriages

Abstract

This article addresses the intersectional nature of intimate partner violence (IPV) against female marriage migrants in Mainland China–Hong Kong cross-border marriages. The author analyzes data from 15 battered female marriage migrants who share the same ethnicity as their husbands to illustrate how the immigration of female marriage migrants intricately intersects with gender, class, and culture to form a multifaceted system that traps battered marriage migrants in abusive marriages. It is proposed that marriage migration, as a distinct form of migration, involves certain intrinsic risk factors that make marriage migrants particularly vulnerable to IPV.