Embracing New Cultures: Sweden Condones Child Marriage for Immigrants

[internalizedhomophobia]

Despite clearly contradicting Swedish law, underage immigrant wives have been repeatedly allowed to stay with their husbands by Sweden's local municipalities, which defend their decisions by citing humanitarian issues.

An immigrant crisis of unprecedented proportions has brought with it problems which Sweden hadn't known previously, such as polygamy and underage brides. Recently, two juvenile immigrant girls in Karlskrona were reported to be staying with their husbands. Neither of the girls was separated from their adult men, even though minors are not allowed to tie the knot in Sweden.

 

One of the cases involves an underage wife who came to Karlskrona with her husband and a small child. In the other case, the girl was pregnant upon arrival. Despite these obvious violations of Swedish law, Karlskrona Social Committee chairperson Ingrid Hermansson of the Center Party defended the municipality's decision. The rule of the thumb in such cases, the community acts "for the child's best" interest.

 

"We do not accept or condone child marriages, but the law also states that individual trials should be conducted in each case. Our assessment was that the girls could live with their men during the asylum process," Ingrid Hermansson said during the debate with the regional council, as quoted by the local newspaper Blekinge Läns Tidning.

 

This approach, however, was not shared by Camilla Brunsberg of the Conservative Party, who contended that the couples should have been dissolved. According to Brunsberg, the girls should have instead been placed in a residential care home for children and young persons, whereas their spouses should have been referred to the Migration Board's asylum residence. Brunsberg argued that there was no other alternative, as all other solutions implied that Sweden was backtracking in its acceptance of child marriage.

 

Brunsberg also voiced doubt whether the underage girls really dare to say the truth about their situation when interrogated by Swedish authorities, suggesting that individual assessments in reality did not carry much weight.

 

Nevertheless, Ingrid Hermansson argued that individual trials in cases of underage immigrants who are married will continue to be held, at least until the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL) comes up with different guidelines on the matter.

 

At present, Swedish legislation on child marriages seems to be applied differently in different municipalities. Earlier this year, the Administrative Court of Växjö ruled that a 14-year-old pregnant girl could be placed with her adult husband's immigrant family, arguing that this was part of their culture. Remarkably, both the girl and her spouse were highly critical of the Swedish law banning underage marriage.

 

"When you are the midst of war and fleeing for your life, you do not think about the laws in force in the country you're heading to," the girl told the Swedish tabloid newspaper Expressen.

 

Previously, the Migration Board identified 132 married children, of them 129 girls and 3 boys, most of them coming from Syria, Iraq and Afghanisatan. Most of them were 16 or 17, while 14 of them were aged 15 or under. Part of the problem is that neither the Migration Board nor the Swedish municipalities have any routine to detect married minors. Therefore, no comprehensive assessments have been made.

 

In its current state, the Swedish marriage law has fetched a lot of criticism from, among others, Swedish star advocate and women's rights campaigner Elisabeth Massi Fritz, who called this practice "unacceptable."

 

Earlier, the Swedish authorities, including Justice Minister Morgan Johansson and Minister of Children Ã…sa Regnér, have repeatedly pledged to review the law on child marriages.

 

Source

 

[ournewboyfriend]

What era is this?  smh 

[knick knack]

Disgusting, embrace cultures but not when it condones pedophilia

Is murder okay just because it's in the name of a sacrifice? That's part of a culture too, not everything is made right just because of "culture"

 

You can respect immigrants in many ways, and this is not one of them. Child marriage is just human trafficking, and should not be "respected" in any way. The moment it's possible, take a child away from their sexual abuser.

[ESSON]

Can't judge bec that's basically my "culture"

[Deviandrepepe]

To me that should nit be counted as culture.

 

Culture should be harmless stuff. I don't care that it's ok in ur Counrty to eat dog, or stone gay people or mary ur children. If it's against the law it should not be embraced.

 

That should not be considered culture and should not be protected by the future law.

[Daria~]

This just goes to show that the extreme left, in their bid to appear tolerant and accepting, are just as stupid and dangerous as the extreme right.

[DemonicPotato]

This just goes to show that the extreme left, in their bid to appear tolerant and accepting, are just as stupid and dangerous as the extreme right.

 

>>Chairperson who defended the decision is from Center Party

>> extreme-left and extreme-right are the same, amirite guys

[Polaris_Tae]

da fuq 

[taebb]

no, this is different. 

 

 

these people weren't getting married in sweden whilst they were underage, which would quite rightly be against the law. 

 

 

they are refugees fleeing from a country where such marriages were legal. swedish authorities, again quite rightly, decided not to rip the families apart. 

[westrocket]

title: sweden condones child marriage

actual article: "we do not condone child marriage"

 

it's a difficult position for the kids though. breaking them off might separate them from the only people they know but it can also protect them. i can see why creating guidelines is so difficult

[Property of Goddess lrene]

Ate they having sex with their underage wives?

[chiirbii]

This is a tricky situation. On one hand it's gross to even think about the situation these 'wives' have been put into at a young age, but then you have families that are fleeing violence and now have to adjust to this foreign country... Would it really be smart to pull these girls and their children away from the only family they have? Or to deny entry to the country based off of her age?

 

I would hope that they'd keep an eye on these girls and once they've adjusted, reassess the situation. Make it clear that their marriage isn't valid because she's too young and ensure she isn't being abused.

[benseac]

This is a tricky situation. On one hand it's gross to even think about the situation these 'wives' have been put into at a young age, but then you have families that are fleeing violence and now have to adjust to this foreign country... Would it really be smart to pull these girls and their children away from the only family they have? Or to deny entry to the country based off of her age?

 

I would hope that they'd keep an eye on these girls and once they've adjusted, reassess the situation. Make it clear that their marriage isn't valid because she's too young and ensure she isn't being abused.

 

Indeed. While an adult marrying a child is an abominable practice, I do understand why, given the circumstances, Sweden is allowing them to remain together. I would hope that the Swedish authorities are doing all they can to make sure the girls are safe and that, if necessary, they're removed from the care of the man they came with and put into a better environment.

[mochichan]

Child bride is gross.... But Sweden is kinda in a bind because they didn't get married in the country so technically they didn't break their law. And like others said it might emotionally impact them to seperate them from people they're familiar with in a new country....

 

Still tho they should restrict them like not allowed them to have sexual relationships. Since they're in the country, any actions taken while in the country should follow the law

[Ego ista]

Sweden what the fuck are you doing

[coward]

Not recognizing marriages from another country is a slippery slope of not recognizing another country's sovereignty. I get the child bride aspect is unfathomable to most westerns, but I'm not even going to there. I'm just looking at this as an international political topic, and it could get very very messy and have negative effects on their citizens living abroad. It's never as simple as we'd like it to be on first glance.

[5th_wall]

The situation where a child bride may either be allowed to stay in a country with rule of law, health care and potential help in case of abuse or be sent back to a country where, as a husbandless wife, she would be worth nothing and potentially be in danger without any resources to help her.

 

But hey, fuck context.

[Green Willow]

i'm going to make a culture that gives credit back to the old times, sacrificing children and babies. if you don't agree with my culture you're a filthy racist and that's problematic.

[ikyu828]

sweden is on the path of self destruct

[Solfa]

I get the argument that the marriage did not happen in Swedish soil so Sweden does not have the power to stop recognizing it, but anything else they do, it’s in their soil, it’s within their power, they should act on it.

 

Now they are in a different country, they might be legally married in their own, but if they act like a husband and wife here, they are breaking Sweden’s law. If they partake in any disgusting activites, that’s statutory rape by Sweden’s law, mutliple rapes if it happens multiple times. Sweden is a country that recognizes spouse rape, so there’s no escaping here. If the girl is treated as a second class citizen by her husband, like it’s kept at home doing “women’s work†instead of going school with her peers etc. it’s child abuse and breaking Sweden’s law. Swedum should treat these crimes as crimes, like it would for its own citizens.

 

If Sweden treats this differently because of special circumstances, what the fuck?

 

To me that should nit be counted as culture.

Culture should be harmless stuff. I don't care that it's ok in ur Counrty to eat dog, or stone gay people or mary ur children. If it's against the law it should not be embraced.

That should not be considered culture and should not be protected by the future law.

That is not, nor has ever been, what a culture is. If culture was just different dressing and food, we’d live in a happy planet now, but it’s not. Let me paraphrase my sociology book for a moment: a culture is a collection of different views on aspects of life steming from different lifestyles that becomes visible when clashing with another one. That’s it. That’s the basic definition of culture in social sciences. Without that clash, there is no difference in cultures. Unless you like the definition that culture is civilized and uncultured is uncivilized, but that’s considered outdated now. Or the biology definition “cultivation of bacteria, cells etc.†which would be off topic.

[doki-doki]

Just when you thought Sweden couldn't shoot themselves in the foot enough.

[IsleSorna]

Sweden wtf..

 

I get maybe not wanting seperate people, but they really shouldn't encourage this practice. Especially the poor girls under 15, seriously those are babies themselves.

 

I'm generally ok with immigration, especially to get away from war torn or corrupt governments, but if you want refuge you're going to have to obey and accommodate the host countries laws (and their values to a degree). That means child brides = NOT ok.

 

Also I don't think it's a problem of recognizing a law of another country. There are laws in other countries that forbid or kill LGBT and other things the west is not ok with either, plus not following a religious based law system, just include this on the list as another law that is not ok there.

[Cherry blossom]

Sweden what the fuck are you doing

I have been asking myself this since 2016. 

[Daria~]

iget the argument that the marriage did not happen in Swedish soil so Sweden does not have the power to stop recognizing it, but anything else they do, it’s in their soil, it’s within their power, they should act on it.

Now they are in a different country, they might be legally married in their own, but if they act like a husband and wife here, they are breaking Sweden’s law. If they partake in any disgusting activites, that’s statutory rape by Sweden’s law, mutliple rapes if it happens multiple times. Sweden is a country that recognizes spouse rape, so there’s no escaping here. If the girl is treated as a second class citizen by her husband, like it’s kept at home doing “women’s work†instead of going school with her peers etc. it’s child abuse and breaking Sweden’s law. Swedum should treat these crimes as crimes, like it would for its own citizens.

If Sweden treats this differently because of special circumstances, what the fuck?That is not, nor has ever been, what a culture is. If culture was just different dressing and food, we’d live in a happy planet now, but it’s not. Let me paraphrase my sociology book for a moment: a culture is a collection of different views on aspects of life steming from different lifestyles that becomes visible when clashing with another one. That’s it. That’s the basic definition of culture in social sciences. Without that clash, there is no difference in cultures. Unless you like the definition that culture is civilized and uncultured is uncivilized, but that’s considered outdated now. Or the biology definition “cultivation of bacteria, cells etc.†which would be off topic.

Since when did this become a thing? Countries that are against gay marriages which occurred in other countries where it’s permitted refuse to recognize gay marriages all the time. As long as the marriage is against the laws of the country, it doesn’t matter where it happened. It is immediately null and void as soon as you step foot in any country that declares that kind of marriage illegal.

 

I get that they’re trying to prevent further emotional damage and instability in these children’s lives but you don’t leave someone with their abuser simply because you don’t want to unstabilize them. Some of these children are already being sexually abused by their husbands, some of them are pregnant. How many more of them will get pregnant again living with their husbands? What’s going to stop the men from continuing with the abuse? Are they considering providing abortion services for the children seeing as some of them are way to young to go into safe labor and delivery and might suffer severe complications? I don’t think there’ll ever be a good time to take these children away and it’s best to do it now and minimize the repercussions.

[Solfa]

Since when did this become a thing? Countries that are against gay marriages which occurred in other countries where it’s permitted refuse to recognize gay marriages all the time. As long as the marriage is against the laws of the country, it doesn’t matter where it happened. It is immediately null and void as soon as you step foot in any country that declares that kind of marriage illegal.

 

I’m holding Sweden to a different standard, they actually give a shit about international law, they have made sure for to be compliant with it. I agree with the rest of your comment though.