Today's most viewed
'Survivor' aims to help other victims
 |
| Jasvinder Sanghera |
JASVINDER Sanghera, who describes herself as a "forced-marriage survivor", told a conference on forced marriage and honour-related violence not to be afraid of cultural sensitivities over the issue.
After her family showed her a photograph of the man she would marry, Miss Sanghera ran away from her home at the age of 15.
She was subsequently disowned by her relatives.
Now leading the Karma Nirvana charity to help victims of forced marriages, Miss Sanghera urged Oxfordshire organisations to start looking deeper into the problem.
She said: "They need confidence in this area and do not need to fear cultural sensitivities or fear being called a racist.
"There should be no fear of getting it wrong or tip-toeing around the issue.
"The message was very strong - it is about child protection and human rights.
"Cultural acceptance does not mean accepting the unacceptable."
Miss Sanghera said a forced-marriage helpline set up by Cleveland Police, in an area with just one per cent ethnic minorities, had received 125 calls since last November.
That had resulted in a total of 25 direct police investigations.
In Luton, an area with a high ethnic population, there were more than 300 forced marriages reported last year.
She said: "We need to have these crimes reported, only then can you start seeing the pattern.
"I believe it is the same in Oxford, where there are many students and colleges.
"You have to remember it cuts across all classes.
"It does not stop here.
"This conference will springboard further work and I will certainly be back in Oxford with Karma Nirvana."
Anyone seeking help on forced marriages can contact the Karma Nirvana charity on 01332 604098 or the Foreign Office's Forced Marriage Unit on 020 7008 0151 and fmu@fco.gov.uk
6:42am Saturday 29th March 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: DanOxford on 11:09am Sat 29 Mar 08
(JASVINDER Sanghera) said:
[italic]"They need confidence in this area and do not need to fear cultural sensitivities or fear being called a racist.'[/italic]
Well said!
'Respecting Cultural Sensitivities'= 'Treating People Differently According to their Race/ Background'
...or in other words: 'Racism'.
Fantastic that so many people are addressing the issues in their own communities and don't need the racist patronage of the white middle- class liberal left who hamper any real integration by giving false 'deference' to people on cultural/ religious grounds.
The tide is turning against NuLabour's Thought Crime policies and we might just be getting back to dealing harshly with criminlas because they're criminals, not excusing them as 'misunderstood' on grounds of race, religion, 'culture' or colour.
(JASVINDER Sanghera) said:
"They need confidence in this area and do not need to fear cultural sensitivities or fear being called a racist.'
Well said!
'Respecting Cultural Sensitivities'= 'Treating People Differently According to their Race/ Background'
...or in other words: 'Racism'.
Fantastic that so many people are addressing the issues in their own communities and don't need the racist patronage of the white middle- class liberal left who hamper any real integration by giving false 'deference' to people on cultural/ religious grounds.
The tide is turning against NuLabour's Thought Crime policies and we might just be getting back to dealing harshly with criminlas because they're criminals, not excusing them as 'misunderstood' on grounds of race, religion, 'culture' or colour.
Posted by: Hunt, oxford on 3:21pm Sat 29 Mar 08
Here's Mr Happy again with his doom-day predictions!!
Here's Mr Happy again with his doom-day predictions!!
Posted by: DanOxford on 5:13pm Sat 29 Mar 08
Here's Hunt again, ignoring the point of my post which was to congratulate this brave woman for speaking out about a serious issue that's [bold]ALREADY[/bold] affecting a vast number of British Asian women.
Here's Hunt again, ignoring the point of my post which was to congratulate this brave woman for speaking out about a serious issue that's
ALREADY affecting a vast number of British Asian women.
Posted by: John on 9:41am Sun 30 Mar 08
Don't know much about this subject at all but suspect men can be the victims as well.
Don't know much about this subject at all but suspect men can be the victims as well.
Posted by: Tim, Cowley on 10:00am Sun 30 Mar 08
Yes John, men get the same sort of pressure but sometimes it is easier for them to get away - not always though.
Yes John, men get the same sort of pressure but sometimes it is easier for them to get away - not always though.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
