Parents of women forced into marriage to be jailed under new laws

[CailinDana]

Brief report here.

About bloody fucking time. If men were being forced into slavery it wouldn't have just been ignored until now would it?

Jolly good

It's not just women who are forces into marriages, I was at school with a lad whose wedding was arranged without consent, and as soon as he finished his GCSEs, he vanished.

Good point Colditz.

Agree Cailin. I think what is much more common is heavily pressurised marriage ie. wedding arranged and young person pressured heavily into going ahead with it. So not a forced marriage in terms of how many think of it, but as good as. And this does happen to both women and men imo.

How is this going to be enforced? Parents sulking, whole family shunning you, lots of family pressure, home life made a misery. So you give in.

i find this very difficult, the grey area between aranged and forced marrage is a minefeild
in most of the world the marrage of two people is considerd the business of the grandperents more than the people being married , we, here in europe are the exception, not the rule , we place love above all , where it's seen as teenage crush in most cultures.
in northen india, pakistan and afghanistan, woman are private possessions to be kept secret from other men
in hundustan a woman is looked upon as a liability so much that a dowry is expected for her keeping.
under these circumstances both the girl and the boy being marreid have no rights attall.
there is a disticnt line between right and wrong though, forceing a child to get married without even asking their opinion is clearly wrong.
but on the other hand there is a risk of forceing our western values on other cultures.

From the Home Office Impact Assessment -

In 2011, the FMU provided advice or support in almost 1500 cases, but we know that this does not reflect the full scale of the abuse, and many more cases are not reported. Research carried out by the then Department for Children, Schools and Families in 2009 estimated that that the national prevalence of reported cases of forced marriage in England was between 5000 and 8000.1 Forced Marriage cases tend to involve young women and young men although it does impact more on women than men 78% involved female victims and 22% involved male victims. The FMU is aware of cases from, Afghanistan, North and East Africa, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey. This list of countries is not exhaustive and there may be other communities in which forced marriage is practised.

As well as there being much higher numbers of female victims, the impact of forced marriage is much greater on women because of their lack of power relative to men. Diana Nammi from The Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation in The Guardian -

"Forced marriage is a violation of human rights itself, and can lead to physical violence, imprisonment, rape and even 'honour' killing. Women and girls from minority communities have suffered these violations for too long. The new law will empower them with the knowledge that what is happening to them is wrong and can be stopped."

Can't really see much of a grey area here - this is a UK law. If somebody in this country doesn't want to get married they shouldn't have to. They shouldn't be either forced or coerced into it. This law is a good thing, even if not all victims are realistically in a position to use it.

I get a bit sick of cultural sensitivities being used to trample all over women's human rights. The same argument could be made about FGM or the burkha.

I don't think it's going to make any difference making it illegal - it's been impossible to police up until now and I can't see how a new law is going to change that.

There is also an awareness raising campaign planned and a package of measures to help schools and other agencies to spot and support victims earlier. I hope it makes some difference.

the same argument could be made about the burqua, but not about FGM .

cultural difference should be taken into account within the framwork of UK law.

I've been thinking about this - potentially it could make things worse, I can't see many children wanting their parents arrested.

When I say Burkha, I am referring to the full body covering that women in Afghanistan are forced to wear - the one that even covers their eyes and restricts their vision. Are you talking about the same thing? Do you think we should ignore the plight of Afghan women because the enforced wearing of such a garment is a cultural difference? Is it OK for women in the UK to be forced to wear a veil by their families because that's their culture and so is above criticism?

I am not talking about women in the west who freely choose to wear a veil of some description - there are valid feminist arguments for and against that practice.

rainydays - well no, but the same is probably true of other child victims of abuse. It all depends how it is handled. We don't have many details yet but after reading the Guardian article I'm cautiously optimistic - these potential problems are being recognised and discussed.

arranged marriages are very different from forced?

arranged marriages in UK, and Pakistan as far as I have witnessed people around me, ie friends and inlaws getting married, involves potential suitors coming to the girls house with family, they all meet and afterwards they decide if they like each other and want to get marry, it can involve a few meetings before the couple decides, and can take a long time involving many different suitors before the girl/boy finds one they feel they are compatible with.

Forced marriage is when the parents pick a person for you and exert pressure for you to marry that person.

but the parents should be jailed, espescially if the girl was raped by her "husband"

I agree nailik - well depending on why the mother is going along - it's entirely possible she too will have been subjected to same.

I'm just not sure this isn't going to make it harder to come forward for victims rather than easier.

What are called 'community leaders' should be involved but I cant see this happening. Its not just muslims but Hindu's and Sikhs in this area. Very much Indian sub continent issue, as is first cousin marriage.
The majority are arranged as Nailak said but you get that grey area where parents want one thing, the young adult another and family pressure is brought to bear (heck, it happenend among the aristos in the UK. Family declaring a potential partner unsuitable and 'not our sort'. Probably still does).
I dont see how that family pressure can be policed. Especially if you love your parents and they think they know best. Or prosecuted unless its a clear case of 'went on holiday to the ancestral country and kept prisoner in a village' type scenario.