What Are Harmful Practices?

Harmful practices (HPs) are entrenched traditional social and cultural behaviours that stem from and are justified by social attitudes, customs, and norms. These practices, enforced by family, community or society at large, often involve violence and cause physical or psychological harm. They infringe upon an individual’s dignity, resulting in various forms of harm and impede full participation in society. Their causes are multidimensional and include stereotypes on gender-based roles, attempts to control women’s bodies and sexuality, unequal power structures and social inequalities. These practices are often justified by both sociocultural and religious customs or values but in reality, they are fundamentally grounded in gender-based and intersecting forms of discrimination (Toe-Bouda & Narain, 2022).

Harmful practices are in addition complex crimes in nature, that are interlinked with other crimes. For example, HPs are also recognised as a form of domestic violence and abuse, which is well-recognised as considerably impacting victims’ wellbeing and lives. Specialists in support services note that key effects on victims of domestic abuse can include (Victim Support, n.d.): depression; fear, anxiety and panic attacks; loneliness and isolation; a lack of confidence or self-esteem; feeling of guilt or self-blame; trouble sleeping; difficulty at work or in other relationships. In some cases, HPs and in particular early forced marriage can be linked to trafficking in human beings as well, with cases identified in Belgium, in the United Kingdom and more across the EU (Janssens et al., 2015). Recognised as a violent and exploitative crime, human trafficking affects all areas of lives of victims and relies on repeated and prolonged exploitation and abuse, hence creating repeated and prolonged trauma (International Organization for Migration [IOM], 2020).