Marriage Challenges of Male and Female Adults with Visual Impairment

Abstract

Intimate relations are considered an essential part of adulthood. In eastern societies, marriage is the only acceptable relation in which to have sexual bonds. Persons with visual impairments find it difficult to establish marriages in Pakistan. This study was intended to find out the challenges that people with visual impairments face while getting married. Twenty-three people with visual impairment in the city of Lahore were sampled through purposive sampling. The sample comprised of 10 male and 13 females. The study was qualitative in nature and the data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were recorded with the consent of the respondents. The interviews were transcribed, themes were extracted and analysis was completed. Five main themes and twelve sub-themes emerged from data analysis. The main themes were experiences related to “desirability of marriage”, “family treatment in childhood linked to marriage,” “family response regarding marriage,” “spousal choices of the participants,” and “challenges to marriage”. The study found that people with visual impairment commonly have a desire for being married before the age of 25 years but they have often crossed this age. Contrary to previous studies, this study found that the families of people with visual impairments want them to get married but stigma related to visual impairment, unemployment/poor earnings and desire to get married with a seeing person were the main challenges to getting married.