[sacw] BBC News | UK Politics | Forced marriage clampdown welcomed

[Harsh Kapoor]

Thursday, 05 August 1999
=46YI
(South Asia Citizens Web)
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BBC News - 05 August 1999
UK Politics
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_412000/412331.stm

=46ORCED MARRIAGE CLAMPDOWN WELCOMED

Thousands of young Asians are forced into marriage every year

A government drive to prevent forced marriages among Britain's Asian
community has been hailed as a "significant breakthrough" by campaigners.

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<olmedia/410000/video/_412331_guru_murphy7am_vi.ram>The BBC's Geeta
Guru-Murphy: "The Home Office believes there are hundreds of such
cases"Ministers are to set up a working party to investigate a hidden
problem believed to affect thousands of youngsters who are forced into
arranged weddings.
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The move has been welcomed by women's rights groups - who have accused the
authorities of ignoring the problem for fear of offending minorities'
cultural traditions.

Muslim community leaders have also backed the initiative and admitted the
issue had been "swept under the carpet" for too long.

The independent working party will consult widely with the Asian community
to tackle the problem - estimated to affect around 1,000 young people a
year - and find ways to resolve it.

'Forced marriages are wrong'

The working party has been set up by Mike O'Brien, the Home Office
minister responsible for race relations. Its first report is expected by
the end of the year.

"Forced marriages are wrong and we are determined to tackle the issue,"
said Mr O'Brien.

In May, he met a Bradford couple who have been in hiding for over six
years after allegedly receiving death threats from the wife's family
following her refusal to marry a cousin in Pakistan.

The issue was highlighted when Shakeela Naz, and her son Shazad, were
convicted for the murder of her daughter Rukhsana, who became pregnant
after an adulterous affair.

Muslim Parliament backing

Hanana Siddiqui, co-ordinator of the Southall Black Sisters, who will sit
on the working party, said the biggest challenge was changing the attitudes
of social services, the police and education authorities.

She said they had ignored the problem for fear of offending minority
sensibilities. "For us they are issues of child abuse and domestic
violence."

Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, Leader of the Muslim Parliament, said the
parliament had launched its own campaign to stop forced marriages.

He said marriages were not valid under Islamic law without the consent of
both parties.

Sex within a forced marriage was rape, and parents and religious leaders
who conspired to force couples to wed were guilty of aiding and abetting
sex crimes, he added.

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