BBC2 Documentary - This World: Forced Marriages

Wow.

I'm currently watching a documentary on BBC2 about forced marriages (specifically British Packistani women being forced to marry Packistani men to get the men visas), and I now completely understand why visa applications get scrutinized.  These people are talking about marrying their daughters to their brother's children (as in, cousins) just to get the young boy to the UK!  One girl they rescued was forced to marry her 15-yr-old cousin because her father left her in Packistan and told her it was the only way she was getting back to the UK...this group "rescued" her, but the family kept her passport. 

It's just incredible watching this.

When you go the legitimate route for a visa you can tend to get penalized for other peoples actions unfortunately.

A couple of the girls I worked with at my last job were in "encouraged" marriages...  Although, most of the people I worked with were Bangladeshi and they were allowed to meet their future husbands and "decide" if it would work out or not.   

Plenty of my friends and clients are in semi-arranged marriages.  The family act as an introduction agency really, and the girls are allowed to make their own decision.

The two things are totally different.  No need to frown at "encouraged" marriages, there is nothing wrong with them, and they are certainly not forced.

People seem to forget that it is a tiny, tiny percentage of British Asians who are actually forced.  And programmes like this do nothing but uphold the stereotype and play into the Government's hands, as it provides justification for draconian visa policies.

Vicky

*nods* I agree with you Vicky.  I think if my parents or grandparents wanted to introduce me to someone, I'd have let them as long as ultimately I was the one who got to decide if I was going to pursue a relationship/marriage.   

The documentary *did* have a few young women who said their families introduced them to several men to choose from, but the one in particular that really stuck out and who was most of the main focus was this girl who's grandmother's dying wish was for her to marry her cousin (what?!) and her father insisted she carried out the grandmother's wish.

Cousin marriage isn't that unusual in the world.  Some states allow it. 

Cousin marriage isn't that unusual in the world.  Some states allow it. 

*thinks about her own cousins* Ewwww.
 

I thought that was why some states required blood tests - to make sure you weren't related?

No, they don't check for relations, it is to check for diseases. 

Checking for relations would be quite expensive and the technology has only really been around for short period compared to the length of time states have used blood tests.

Plenty of my friends and clients are in semi-arranged marriages.  The family act as an introduction agency really, and the girls are allowed to make their own decision.

The two things are totally different.  No need to frown at "encouraged" marriages, there is nothing wrong with them, and they are certainly not forced.

I don't have anything against encouraged marriages, I think its a safe way for people to meet someone to marry within your religion or cultural group.  Its just when they're using the pretense of an encouraged marriage and turn out to be forced... 

I'm not referring to forced arranged marriages to immigration policy, just people scamming visas in general that make it more difficult for the rest of us doing it legitimately.  (I make a muck of things easily.)  One of the guys I used to work with goes to Africa serially and marries women that pay him to get them UK citizenship.  I think he's on his 8th or 9th wife or something like that now.  (He's in his 60s.)