Foreign Correspondent: Nov 12

Foreign Correspondent looks at a topic that has been covered by other shows this year, forced marriages, but this time in the UK.

It’s supposed to be one of life’s happiest moments. But imagine if others at your wedding ceremony had decided who you were going to marry, where and when. Imagine being forced to marry someone you may not even know? Resist or refuse and there’s the risk of mental torture, physical abuse, even death. Pre-ordained partners are part of the cultural landscape of South Asia and the Middle East. But the UK?

Foreign Correspondent investigates the worrying incidence of forced marriages and honour violence in Britain’s ethnic communities and the lagging effort of authorities to deal with it.

Shafilia Ahmed wanted to be a lawyer and to make her own relationship choices. But her parents judged the 17-year-old’s aspirations to be shameful to the family, so they killed her and made their other children watch the consequences of perceived dishonour.

Banaz Mahmod had been forced into an abusive, violent marriage. When she fled and was seen kissing another man in public the so-called honour code was applied. She was raped, garrotted and her body packed in a suitcase.

When Surjit Atwal sought refuge from her abusive arranged marriage by enjoying nights out with friends she’d made through a new job, her mother-in-law arranged for her to be lured out of the country and killed.

What country? India? Pakistan? The Middle East? No. All three of these victims of honour crime grew up in England.

‘What we have here are crimes in the name of the father, the son and the blessed male members of the family. We have kidnappings, abductions, sexual offences. Anything that you can imagine could happen, does happen in the name of honour.’ NAZIR AFZAL Chief prosecutor, NW England

In the multi-cultural corners of the United Kingdom law enforcement authorities are struggling to address the problem. Police, in particular, have been accused of not taking honour crime seriously, ignoring clear warning signs and pleas for help. The reasons are incompetence, lack of training and an undue emphasis on racial and cultural sensitivities.

‘I’ve always advocated to ignore cultural sensitivity. It’s a ruse. We won’t interfere with that family, it’s their culture. Well hang on a minute, crimes are being committed, people’s lives are being destroyed, people’s freedoms are being suppressed’. Detective Constable Palbinder Singh

In this frank and disturbing Foreign Correspondent, Europe Correspondent Mary Gearin opens the case-book on honour crime in the UK and examines the efforts underway to prevent forced marriages and to crack down on families applying a violent and sometimes deadly code.

Tuesday, 12 November at 8pm on ABC1.