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Chancellor calls for law against forced unions in Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants tougher legal measures against forced marriages.

Women's groups campaigning against the practice are applauding Merkel's idea to raise fines and specifically target forced marriages.

Merkel addressed the issue in a speech at a women's conference organized by her conservative Christian Democrats over the weekend.

"I completely agree that forced marriages should be punishable as a criminal act," Merkel said.

Currently, prosecutors rarely pursue criminal charges against parents who force their children to marry a certain person, and, when they do press charges, must use laws banning assault -- which can carry up to five years in prison.

The thinking is that making forced marriages specifically a criminal act would ease prosecution and send a signal to those who view such marriages favorably that the practice is inconsistent with the constitutionally enshrined worth and dignity of the individual.

"We are thrilled that the chancellor has made such a clear statement," said Sibylle Schreiber from the women's rights group Terre des Femmes, which has long been pushing for a tougher stance.

For decades, Germany looked the other way when it came to what was considered the private business of immigrant families.

But fears about a "parallel society," extremism and lack of integration have led to a tougher stance, especially when it comes to basics such as respecting women's rights.

Women's groups and people who study immigrant society said it is difficult to tell how many women marry under threats, beatings or coercion, but there are enough to keep several shelters busy and several immigrant writers have chronicled their escape from such marriages.

Several German states and private organizations have started programs to help these women.

One of them, a 20-year-old Turkish-German woman who ran away from home because her parents wanted to marry her to a cousin, now lives in Berlin with a new identity, out of fear her family might track her down.

"After they found out I had a boyfriend, they locked me up in my room and beat me up every day for a month," she said.

"They wanted to sew the tear in my hymen and quickly marry me to my cousin -- they wanted to make him believe that I am still a virgin," she said.

Dogan was rescued by Hatun und Can, a private organization named after the Turkish-German woman Hatun Surucu, who was shot and killed in 2005. The group of 23 volunteers says it has helped 75 women since its founding in February.

Dogan contacted them online. A few days took her to Berlin and provided her with an apartment and a new job as a cashier.

Gulay Kizilocak, deputy director of the Center for Turkish Studies at the University of Essen, said "it is important that we distinguish between forced marriage and arranged marriages."

"Not every arranged marriage is forced," she said. "We need to tell immigrant boys and girls from an early age what their rights are."
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