‘Russian Wives’: at the International Marriage Market

Abstract

The international marriage market is considered both as a demographic category and as a socio-cultural phenomenon formed under the influence of international migration. The scale of the marriage emigration increased sharply after the collapse of the USSR. ‘Russian wives’ phenomenon has become a kind of sociocultural brand in the international marriage market. It includes women from Russia and post-Soviet countries who speak Russian and have a Slavic appearance. There were four directions of marriage emigration of Russian and Russian-speaking women: North American, European, Asian, and Middle Eastern. Many ‘Russian wives’ are well adapted and successfully integrated in host countries. Some of them face difficulties and barriers: poor language skills, mental and cultural differences. Sometimes misunderstanding leads to a break in relations with husbands. However, Russian and Russian-speaking women rarely return to their homeland in the case of divorce and try to re-find a husband abroad. Marriage emigration of women from Russia in the vast majority of cases becomes irrevocable, and therefore the country loses its female population, its gene pool. The increase of marriage migration has led to establishment of the infrastructure of the marriage market on international scale. In addition the shadow sector of this market was formed represented by groups engaged in illegal activities related to trafficking.