The Cultural Stigma Attached With Inter-Tribal Marriages Encourages Forced Marriages: Four Selected Case Studies From Rural Sindh

Abstract

Forced marriages are a common practice in rural areas of Pakistan in general and Sindh in particular. Inhumane customs of honour-killing (karo-kari), child marriage, marriage with Quran and marriage in compensation (sangchatti) which are the worst form of forced marriages still continue to haunt the rural Sindh. Women are the special target of those customs and cultural practices. This research argues that the cultural stigma attached with intertribal marriages and emphasis on consanguineal marriages in rural Sindh is one of the root-causes of the most of the problems related to forced marriages in Sindh. In this regard criminal side of the problem has already been emphasized in human rights reports and research papers but the cultural side has not been studied specially in the context of the rural Sindh. This paper is an attempt to shed a power light on all those issues. Using four selected case studies it is explored that how the taboo attached with intertribal marriages promotes forced Marriages in rural context of Sindh. Moreover, an attempt has also been made to understand the exact legal position regarding forced marriages according to the international Law, local Pakistani law and Shariah law. Above all it is also discussed in this paper that what could be done to decrease the instances of forced marriages among the rural communities of Sindh.