Why does Great Britian still allow child brides? What will it take to get this to stop (See Links in Details)

@Espiritus_Corvus put this up for me because I can’t post questions. Thanks EC!

The sources in this link are pretty old. Can anyone bring us up to date on this subject?

The articles in the link appear to contradict the idea that the government is content with the practice. Such “marriages” are obviously the detritus of traditional practices accompanying recent immigrants

The first and the second link don’t seem to address the same issue, and none of them show how exactly does the UK allow child marriages.

Forced marriage is a problem. This is where the family take the child out of the country for the marriage however teachers and customs officers are pretty good and spotting it and people are prosecuted for it.

On the bright side at least we’re not as bad as some of the US states where children as young as 12 can legally marry.

As with all cultural change it is a long and slow process. All that can be done is to continue education and public awareness. Many micro-pockets of a culture, especially those that live in more rural areas, resist change and hold tradition close. Doing things the way they have always been done is an unspoken rule for many.

Normally, the family goes back to the old country to get a bride. They marry there, then if she is under age, the girl comes in under some pretext (by guardian or by her father, etc. Once here, she’s stuck.

It looks like a combined family services and police enforcement problem. I believe the laws are there, but the cops are somewhere else. Maybe if enough people made a big stink about this, the PM might build a fire under Scotland Yard’s ass—like Trump is trying to do concerning opiates in the US. Finally somebody with some oomph is talking seriously about the drug problem.

The Daily Mail is always up for a good, salacious campaign as I remember. Why aren’t they writing about this obscenity more? It will sell papers and soon the Guardian will get in on the act and eventually the Times. Next thing you know every woman and man in the UK will be screaming for justice.

They need some PR people to show them how its done. I hear Kellyanne Conway could use a little work. LOL. We’ll gladly give her to you for free. Just don’t send her back when you’re done with her. Push her on to Putin.

I don’t think it’s restricted to the uk. What are the statistics for America? Other western countries? What are the laws? It seems to me that there is a lot being done to combat it in the uk. How many other counties’ laws also include prosecution for marriages taking place abroad to their citizens?

@Stinley In Kansas, you can marry at 15. You have to convince a judge that it’s in the best interest of the child.

In South Carolina, it’s 14 for a girl. She must have her parents’ consent.

Here’s my source: https://www.thespruce.com/legal-age-marriage-laws-by-state-2300971

It’s difficult to know the truth about these sources because I found another website that gave different ages with different states.

Clearly, the UK does not ALLOW child marriage or forced marriages. The Girls not Brides link demonstrates marriage under the age of 16 (even with parental approval) is illegal and that the UK has also introduced legislation that prohibits forced marriage whether it takes place in the UK or overseas. The video shows the problem is not the UK ‘allowing’ child marriages, but that EU legislation prevents British authorities from prosecuting those who participate in such marriages. Perhaps allowing the UK to impose their legislation on people who engage in such action will be one of the benefits of Brexit.

The title of this question is misleading.

@Earthbound_Misfit sorry about that.

it seems unlikely that will happen.

@Earthbound_Misfit U.K. Law does allow for prosecutions for forced marriage and there have been prosecutions although not many as it’s hard to get the evidence. EU law does not prevent such prosecutions. The YouTube video along with everything else on that channel looks like uninformed islamaphobia.

Thank you for the additional information @Lightlyseared, however, my point was that the premise of the question was wrong and that neither of those sources demonstrates that the UK ALLOWS child or forced marriages.

Oh yes. The question is badly thought out flame bait.

Please guys. Regardless of how badly worded you think the question is, we can still have a fruitful discussion about it.

@Espiritus_Corvus and @Stinley made good points.

I’m fairly well acquainted with the subject. I taught ESL to a family from Yemen for 3 years. There were 2 daughters and two sons. We grew to be good friends, and I learned a great deal about how they think, and we discussed at length all sorts of topics involving everything from child marriage to honor killing, to wearing headscarves, veils, etc.

Eventually one of the girls asked me to attend the birth of her first baby, to sort of act as “cultural interpreter”. It didn’t go well, but I think that was mainly due to Islamophobia on the part of her doctor.

Also, people engaged in child trafficking and those engaged in child marriages often use similar techniques to get the job done. Both are effective at destroying children. Perhaps we would do well to combine laws, etc. to attack the problem. Hmmmm.

@Lightlyseared i watched the video in question again. I didn’t see anything “islamophobic” about it. I don’t know you, but it would seem that perhaps you’re in favor of child marriage inside of the Muslim faith.

@snowberry no I’m not in favor of child marriage, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, honour killings etc. my point is is that neither is Islam. These are all cultural traditions not religious traditions. The reason I’m calling the video islamaphobic is that author is suggesting that all muslims believe in and practice these things to stoke up anti Islamic sentiment in the uneducated, credulous westerner (just like IS calling all Americans fat racist gun loving red necks who want to bomb all Muslims off the face of the earth for their oil to convince the gullible to become suicide bombers).

@Lightlyseared I watched it AGAIN. I still don’t get how this is islamophobic. It still happens, and that is the point. Apparently in various countries, as laws are passed to safeguard children from this scourge, Muslims seem to have been the most vocal and resistant to the idea. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_India

People in other cultures/ religions seem to continue as before, only they are much more secretive, and do their best to present underage children as much older than they really are. India has provided the best solution by offering a financial incentive to parents if they wait to marry off their girls until the right age.

Child marriages occur across cultures and religions. but we have not resolved the problem within our own (US) borders. http://www.youconvids.com/videos/americas-child-marriage-problem-j5i5j6u4c6c6p556s4e5j3.html

Regarding child marriage, this video speaks volumes.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhn-rLSRBJ4

Who among the people reading this thread would have the courage to speak up and act? I grew up in Utah, and I am descended from polygamists. I even knew a few while we lived there.

Although I’ve never encountered a situation like this one, I’ve been confronted by other equally difficult situations. Sometimes I’ve acted, and other times I haven’t. I regret the times I chose to do nothing.