New law does not stop women being coerced into virtual slavery

THE case of Humayra Abedin highlights how ineffectual the new law on forced marriage has been in stopping the practice. Behind closed doors in Asian communities across the country, deals are still being brokered that effectively indenture British women into lives of slavery.

Liberal policies of entitlement, aimed at showing respect for the diverse cultures that make up modern Britain, have been abused in order to uphold arcane and inhumane practices that date back to feudal times.

While arranged marriages are still popular with young Asians -that is a choice made after receiving a series of introductions to potential partners - forced marriages are peculiar to those at the edges; communities alienated, from, or by, society as a whole.

This will often mean parents, who are impoverished or ill-educated, projecting their social anxieties and expectations on to their children, even children who have transcended the barriers of poverty or lack of education.

In that sense, they are not much different from those dysfunctional or misguided white families living in a bubble who kidnap or abuse, or father children by their own progeny.

The lack of respect for basic morality or natural rights is a function of ignorance and inexcusable, irrespective of the age, circumstances or the culture of the individuals involved.

The claim that Dr Abedin is being held captive in a strange place and about to be married off to a stranger is another example of social breakdown. Whatever the outcome of this particular case, it is time to toughen up both the rules and penalties around forced marriage and start enforcing them.

* Shyama Perera, Asian news broadcaster and writer.