Forced Marriages/arraigned Marriages

Ethics

Forced Marriages/Arraigned Marriages

We are all familiar with the story: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl gets married. For a majority of the western world, this is our ideal of a great beginning to a perfect marriage.

As I have done some research on the subject of forced marriage and an arranged marriage, I feel I should explain the difference. A "Forced Marriage" is one in which one or more of the parties, usually the women is married without his/her consent or against his/her will. A forced marriage is considered to be domestic violence and an abuse of human rights. Victims of forced marriage often experience physical violence, rape, abduction, sexual abuse, and often times emotional and mental abuse. An "Arranged Marriage" is where both parties consent to the assistance of their parents or a third party in identifying a spouse. According to most Catholics and other Christians, a valid marriage is one where both parties give their consent freely and they feel (as many other religions may feel) that forcing someone into marriage is a grave sin.

As on the island of Callatia, young women were forced into marriage at a young age of 12. It was hard for me to comprehend such an act at such a young age. As I continued my research, I found some of the stories to be quit disturbing. In a forced marriage the young women (wives) were not allowed to be seen in public (in India). The husbands held all the power over their wives and he was able to decide whether the wife lived or died.

It was not uncommon for a husband to kill his wife if her dowry was not sufficient by his means. This practice was called Bride-burning. This form of domestic violence was practiced in parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries located on or around the Indian subcontinent. The Bride-burning is alleged to be the husband or the family of the husband dousing the man's wife with any type of flammable liquid such as gasoline, or kerosene and sets the women on fire, which usually leads to death. The way in which this type of behavior is disguised is