Forced Marriage, past and present.

A previous production from Covent Garden

Yesterday evening I attended a performance of Richard Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier.  Often presented as a frothy comedy of manners set in a chocolate box setting, Richard Jones’s production for Glyndebourne transferred the work from its normal nineteenth century setting.  As a result the messages within the opera were more pronounced and hard hitting and none the worse for that.

One strand of the plot is the attempt by a newly wealthy family to marry off its daughter to an impoverished

licentious bully of ancient noble lineage, Baron Ochs.  The marriage plans are frustrated, and the young woman in question marries the man of her choice, so the ending is to that degree a happy one.  However the underlying theme of family coercion of a young person for social and financial advancement, basically of forced marriage, is an ugly one.

It also happens to be a topical one.

From today forcing someone to marry against their will in the UK will be a criminal offence punishable by up to 7 years in prison.  Opinion is divided as to whether the law is necessary given that several measures to combat forced marriage that are already in place.  There are also fears that women will be unwilling to report their own family in circumstances which could lead to their imprisonment. However the Government is showing that it has the will to outlaw the practice, and the change should strengthen the arm of the police, and further raise awareness about what remains in many cases a hidden source of real suffering and distress.

Forced marriage is not just something that occurs in Birmingham, London or Leeds.  Here in Suffolk last year 6 Forced Marriage Protection Orders were taken out, covering 8 separate young people. Bal Howard, who leads on Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence for Suffolk Police, has recently expressed the fear that the 25 cases that she investigated in the East of England last year could just be the tip of the iceberg.

I suspect that forced marriage is no longer acceptable among Viennese aristocrats.  It is time to take steps to make sure that it is not acceptable here in Suffolk!