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Forced marriages and honor violence at record high, says South Wales Police


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South Wales Police have released this to coincide with International Women's Day.

 

8 March 2011 Last updated at 06:42

 

South Wales Police say they are dealing with the largest number of cases of forced marriage and honour based-violence they have ever seen.

 

In the past 12 months, the force has dealt with 49 cases of forced marriage, up from a typical 30-35, with new cases almost every week.

 

The four Welsh forces have been involved in about 60 cases, with four in north Wales in six months.

 

The figures are released to coincide with International Women's Day.

 

A forced marriage, as opposed to an arranged marriage, is where either bride or groom, or both, do not consent to a wedding and are coerced into accepting it.

 

In many cases they are told they will bring their family shame or dishonour if they refuse.

 

Ch Supt Neil Kinrade, head of South Wales Police's communities and partnerships department, said forced marriage was a "hidden harm" among some sectors of the community.

 

He said: "I'm pleased that we are dealing with the numbers [of cases that] we are, however, we are still only dealing with a small number of the actual incidents and practices that are taking place.

 

"This, amongst the community, is a hidden harm.

 

"It goes on and it goes on often unchecked by senior members of the community who know it's taking place.

 

"I think it's less of a problem here than perhaps places like Bradford and London, but nevertheless, it is a problem and it's something that we need to do something about."

 

Good on South Wales Police for highlighting an important issue on International Women's Day.

Full article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12669909

 

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Forced marraige is also an issue that affects young gay muslims. Apparently some Muslim families think that being gay brings dishonour on the family and in an attempt to cover thie offspring's sexuality the child is forced into marraige. Very sad.

 

There is a wonderful book by Jasvinder Sanghera called "Daughters of Shame". Which explores some of the issues faced by women who are threatened into marraige by their families:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Daughters-Shame-Jasvinder-Sanghera/dp/0340962070/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299686527&sr=8-2-spell

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Interestingly I saw this article on a march for women's rights in Egypt on International Women's Day which was basically shut down by a load of men who chased them off.

 

Plus it gives these figures:

 

Sexual harassment remains widespread in Egypt, where women often are afraid to report sexual assault or harassment for fear they and their families will be stigmatized. A 2008 survey by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights found that 83 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women in Cairo said they had been harassed — while 62 percent of men admitted to harassing.

 

Only 17% of Egyptian women and 2% of foreign women HAVEN'T been sexually harrased in Egypt which basically means that a few old ladies haven't been sexually harrassed but everyone else has. Plus the majority of men sexually harrass and the majority of men in Egypt believe sexual harrasment is the fault of the harrassed women.

 

It's disgraceful, I though Islam was supposed to be about respecting women and chastity. In Pakistan it is apparently called 'Eve Teasing' and is done by men in order to intimidate women into not going out alone and curtailing their independence.

 

Apparently even wearing a sodding burka doesn't protect you according to the BBC:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7514567.stm

 

Backward isn't the word....

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:rolleyes:

Interestingly I saw this article on a march for women's rights in Egypt on International Women's Day which was basically shut down by a load of men who chased them off.

 

Plus it gives these figures:

 

 

 

Only 17% of Egyptian women and 2% of foreign women HAVEN'T been sexually harrased in Egypt which basically means that a few old ladies haven't been sexually harrassed but everyone else has. Plus the majority of men sexually harrass and the majority of men in Egypt believe sexual harrasment is the fault of the harrassed women.

 

It's disgraceful, I though Islam was supposed to be about respecting women and chastity. In Pakistan it is apparently called 'Eve Teasing' and is done by men in order to intimidate women into not going out alone and curtailing their independence.

 

Apparently even wearing a sodding burka doesn't protect you according to the BBC:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7514567.stm

 

Backward isn't the word....

 

It says a lot about the sort of men they have there:rolleyes:

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Quote:

Sexual harassment remains widespread in Egypt, where women often are afraid to report sexual assault or harassment for fear they and their families will be stigmatized. A 2008 survey by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights found that 83 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women in Cairo said they had been harassed — while 62 percent of men admitted to harassing.

 

These are truly shocking statistics, have these men no shame. This should not be hidden away, but openly debated. I find the 'Eve Teasing' thing absolutely appauling.

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Feisty and proud people are your Welsh. Wasn't aware they were into forced marriages though. They do have a cultural aversion to vowels for some reason which might make communication with potential spouses tricky, strumming a guitar at the fair maidens window while singing "flllbdr llngrt grkkpt lllllllllg nf crt" is unlikely to result in a sucessfull union so maybe some older Welsh resort to forced marriages for their offspring in case they die out through lack of interest/comprehension. Like panda breeding.

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