The shame of forced marriage

Today's Telegraph's article is a laudable attempt to re-energise one of the non-debates of British public life: the shame of arranged/forced marriage. Under the headline "MPs too scared to talk about forced marriage 'in case they lose Muslim votes", the paper reports an interview with West Yorkshire Labour MP Ann Cryer inviting politicians to be at the "forefront of the campaign to stop young couples being made to wed against their will by their families".

For good balance, you also get the opinion of Birmingham Perry Barr's own Labour MP (Khalid Mahmood) who seems quite anxious to play down the issue ("not an epidemic", he says). Like we discussed last February, it's easy to forget that, each year, hundreds of women in Britain (as well as back in Pakistan and Bangladesh) are victim to one of the most odious (and backward) forms of domestic oppression.