Sunday, August 25, 2013

Ah, Yes, the Old Spoon-In-Your-Knickers Trick

Girls in the U.K. who don't want to be shipped "home" and forced into marriage with some old a-hole have been given a piece of useful advice:
Forced marriages are becoming so common in Britain that the government has put the country’s airport workers on watch for signs of the problem among young women and men. A charity for victims of abuse and forced marriages has found a creative way for victims to escape such a fate, one that takes advantage of the fact that the forced marriages rarely happen within the country. 
The U.K.-based charity Karma Nirvana is urging victims of forced marriage to put a spoon in their underwear before they go to the airport to be flown off to their family’s homelands to meet their new spouses. The spoon will cause metal detectors at the airport to beep; victims will be taken away from their parents to be searched, giving them one last chance to alert airport authorities that they are being forced into marriage. 
Natasha Rattu, Karma Nirvana’s operations manager, said that tricks like the spoon in the underwear are essential to help victims avoid arranged marriages because it is often impossible for them to safely stand up to their families...
My question: What happens after the spoon sets off the alarm? Couldn't these young women become victims of "honour" crimes for defying their parents' wishes?

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