UK Contemplating Outlawing Forced Marriage

by Tom Miller

The British Tory Party is thinking about possibly investigating whether it would be feasible to make forced marriage illegal. You know drawing a line in the sand, “Across this line you do not…” The proposed proposal would make forced marriage a criminal offense, possibly. They also would consider a law that requires a minimum age of 21 for people coming to the UK for the express purpose of getting married. This could break a long tradition of using younger sisters in political marriages.

In order to avoid the appearance of prejudice, the Tory spokesperson wants to make it clear that no one is suggesting arranged marriages are going to be outlawed. Just marriages based on coercion, kidnapping, assault, and psychological torture; which may be too late for Britney Spears (is this thing on?).

We don’t mean to sound too high and mighty over here but, uh, what’s the hold up? We’re guessing that there can’t be too many people opposed to a ban on force marriages (except people who think it’s cool, but they have to be a minority). Maybe the laws in the UK are different but we’d think that there would be some basic framework around things like freedom. OK, we’re getting off of the pedestal now.

Read more from the BBC about this courageous stance by lawmakers…