NEWSWEEK – Sep 18 – Forced weddings and 'honor' killings happen in England and the U.S. In 2010 the Forced Marriage Unit in the U.K. handled 1,700 cases of forced marriage. Karma Nirvana is a U.K charity devoted to helping victims of forced marriage and honor violence. In 2007 the UK government enacted the 'Forced Marriage Act' in part thanks to the book Shame. Anyone in Britain who suspects a girl may be forcibly married can ask a court for an injunction against the girls' family or community which would require them to surrender their passports. The Child Protective Services in the USA has no protocol for dealing with such cases. Forced marriages are occurring in America.
by Michelle Goldberg
The full article was originally published at The Daily Beast, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Forced marriages are the antithesis of what the idating industry stands for; freedom of choice in marriage and sex. Sites like Shaadi and Bharat Matrimony involve parents in the pairing process. That's good. Parents know their kids better than they know themselves in many cases. But forced marriages are acts of great inhumanity. Your comments please.
