Yesterday, 26th of January 2007, BBC has reported that every year in UK almost 250 cases of forced marriages are getting recorded.
The latest victim, a 19 year old Yasmin told that at 15, her parents told her she was going abroad to get married and they would not take no for an answer.
She said,
“My step father, he beat me up so badly because he was always used to punch me in the jaw and I couldn’t open it for two weeks.”
Yasmin tried to tell her teacher.
"My teacher just laughed it off. She didn’t believe it was happening to me. The teacher, the school should have at least said something.
“Or social service could’ve at least visited me to see if I was OK…but no-one bothered.”
Now written guideline has been issued to Councils and Schools to deal with such forced marriage situations.
I am strongly in favour of the protection of these school girls, who are getting disappear from schools in forced marriage ordeals.
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
disgusting animals. i dunno how parents can do that to their children. how can they beat their grown daughters, even kill them--all in the name of "izzat" and then call themselves Muslims? Such people deserve the worst punishment.
But I highly doubt this will be stopped, unfortunately. Judging by the attitudes of several people on here, any sign of help from "otusiders" (i.e., non Muslims/non-desis) is spit upon and scrutinized.
I think the only way to eradicate forced marriage/domestic violence/honor killings, is from within the community.
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
forced marriages should be illegal...period
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
YES
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
A few years back in Toronto, a Pakistani couple told their daughter that she would be getting married to her cousin in Pakistan.
She refused because he was 10 years older than her and if she marries him we will get to come to Canada.
She refused completely, so her parents drugged her.
After drugging her, they put her in a Burka and took her to Toronto Airport to board a flight to Pakistan.
This was before 9/11, the custom officer noticed something suspicious about her and they examined her closely and knew she was drugged.
They arrested both parents.
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**
[QUOTE]
*Should force marriage be illegal? *
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**Is it legal now?
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
She refused because he was 10 years older than her and if she marries him we will get to come to Canada.
She refused completely, so her parents drugged her.
After drugging her, they put her in a Burka and took her to Toronto Airport to board a flight to Pakistan.
This was before 9/11, the custom officer noticed something suspicious about her and they examined her closely and knew she was drugged.
They arrested both parents.
and then what happened?
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
in a way it could be? they dont acknowledge it as a problem, hence no law making it "illegal"?
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
This happened in 1999 so dont remember it that clearly.
But from what I do know, she did not press charges against her parents.
But her parents had to do some community service.
The girl went to live with her Aunt.
I will try to find the news link.
Here is a similar story in England
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
^ Hmmm..
There's two sides to every story.
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
Isnt it already?
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We are just shouting ..... tree is not bearing the sweet fruit ... without checking whats happening in the roots of tree.
1) Pay attention to backgrounds of the parents who are forcing their children to marry somone forcefully.
2) What caused those parents to do that?
3) Did they bring up their children well?
Mostly there is a history behind the forced marriages, we are just shouting forced marriage should be illegal, yes it should be but why does it even happen in the first place.
A Guy moved to live in UK / USA / Canada / Norway (where'ever) in 1970 he was 20 years old with not much knowledge ... he saved some money by working in coal mines or factories & openned a corner shop and starting making good money, went back to PK got married & brought his bride. Bride was from Kotli or Mirpur etc had basic education of 2 to 5 years only. She could make best food and he could stand in his shop from 7 am to 10 pm. They had children, they girls started growing up, got mixed up with local culture while father stayed busy with business & mother stayed busy in kitchen. Then suddenly someone knocked the door & told them, hey guys I saw ur daughter dating a kala/gora/neela/peela/gulabi & they had been kissing on the school bench. That openned the eyes of parents who had a semi in the decent area, a running business and neighbours could smell the nicest food being cooked in that semi. Father got aggressive, start beating his daughter for what she had been doing outside. She fell for drugs etc ... so they forcefully took her to Pakistan & forced her to marry a metric failed boy in family. Iss ke pakistani lija keh shadi karawao warna yeh yahan hamara munh kala karwa day gee.
This is 90% cause of forced marriages (10% may be other reasons). Whoes fault is it ?
I'd say "parents", father stayed busy with making, mother carried on cooking. But there was something else being cooked in children's mind. In the present world in the west we must teach our children and ask them what their activities are outside ... teach them our culture properly so they know what their steps should be.
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How many of u girls are scared that ur parents will force you to marry someone? (I guess no one, have u ever thought why?)
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Merely shouting, make the forced marriage illegal wont solve the problem. Educating people will make it better, fix the roots dont ban the fruit.
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
Very True
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How can one prove that the marriage was forced?
any girl/guy, after being married and dissatisfied with their spouse or perhaps even with their parents can say they were forced into a marriage.
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
this stands true for most issues!
unfortunately very rich (and powerful) people fear education will make people free, and less prone to be their slaves
reason why it’s hardest to promote education in hierarchic society: furthermore i would say, the most social inequities in a siciety, the most difficult it is to promote education
this explains why north europe (least social inequities in the world) has the best education system, while USA (more social inequities than south/east europe) has only an average education system, and while Pakistan, and a lot of other third world country have big social inequities, and very high rate of uneducated people.
You can also correlate the education level to the low repression level: the least education, the stronger the punishment from crimes/thefts. so should it be legal? the answer depends on the punishment!
IF USA have so many people in jail, it’s because it doesnt want to cure the roots: more education is needed (and the consequence: more social equity)
sending parents to jail as what France decided ? i don’t think France is an example (i’m french :halo:), the current trend more jail and punishment is only the consequence of education failure, and increased social inequities, partly coming from racism against immigrants from africa.
(please note i refer to eduation as the legal minimum education one has to take, usually until 14/16 years old, hence university is NOT included)
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Another disgusting bit of ethnic culture.
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There's two sides to every story.
jes jes datz truee
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what law makes it legal????
in Islam force marriages r illegal....
pity Muslims dont like following Islam Laws....
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
^Yes Islam doesn’t allow such violence as its the religion of protecting Human Rights. But does the UK desi community care?
Here is another article “Help for Bullied Brides”. In this Lord lester says: “The level of abuse is completely horrific and a serious social evil. When I saw last summer that the Government had rejected making forced marriage a crime, I wondered what we could do about it. After taking soundings from various people, I became quite clear that the Protection Against Harassment Act and the family Act provide insufficient protection.”
The resulting forced marriage (civil protection) bill he has written, prohibits forcing anyone into marriage they won’t want. Victims’ extended families are often heavily invloved in helping to plan such weddings, so bill also outlaws any form of collusion. And it is not only the victim who can bring and action; court proceedings can be instigated by others acting on behalf of an individual at risk.
But will this help vulnerable teenagers? No choice is easy, explain 17-year-old Aisha Khan who is still struggling with her feelings about the family who violently abused and threatened her with death when she refused to marry two years ago.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to get them prosecuted because I love my parents. I wouldn’t do anything to get them sent down. Not many girls would. Maybe an injunction to stop them hassling me but I wouldn’t want to hurt them as they hurt me.”
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1999470,00.html
Between 2003 and 2005, 518 forced marriages were recorded in London, and in 2005 140 in Bradford. Campaigners say those are merely the tip of the iceberg. Most cases in Britain involve Muslim families, although the practice is not restricted to any paticular religious or ethnic group.
Re: Should force marriage be illegal?
I've seen a lot of these cases with Mirpuri families, not saying it's restricted to them but I've only seen it amongst them.
The ignorant, uneducated, ex-goatherd parents have no idea how to bring their kids up or teach them the values and culture they wish them to live by and submit to, there daughters grow up giving choopas *to Paki and Sikh boys behind bus shelters and selling booze at the local co-op all their lives whilst their parents are in the *ghalatfehmi that "sadi kurri barri naik hai", then they wake up when they try marrying them off to some fat FOB with an accent, BO and a horrendous fashion sense (shalwar kameez with sneakers).
Then these IDIOTS give all Pakistanis and Muslims a bad name by forcing them to marry or worse honour killing them..