Bride Kidnapping - Tradition Or Crime.

In the name of tradition and culture, women have always been put through various horrendous practices which are sometimes even against humanity. And for this particular reason many families would rather not have a girl child at all as they think the child would be an unnecessary burden on the whole family and sometimes even bring disgrace to the family.

One of these practices is “Bride Kidnapping”, even though it’s banned and made illegal in the country of Kyrgyzstan it is still followed in the name of culture or tradition and local authorities seldom do anything to enforce the ban. The women who are kidnapped are sometimes under the age of 18 and are often forced into these marriages by the groom, groom’s family and also their own family who want to avoid disgrace in the society.

In Kyrgyzstan, this practice has a long history and is not rooted in violence. It was started out as a protest against the disapproval to the union by the bride and groom’s families and was something the couple entered into willingly. But now, even though the times have changed this practice is still widely followed and is often unknown to the woman who ends up getting abducted by the groom and his friends (read groomsmen).

This custom is very common in that country and there a lot of factors that contribute to it, which include, grooms and their families are able to avoid paying the traditional bride price, a custom that requires the family of the groom to pay the family of the bride before the marriage takes place. Another factor influencing this tradition is the cultural stigma behind a rejection of the marriage proposal, which is quite disgraceful to both the groom and his family. Kidnapping a bride makes rejection nearly impossible. And as a woman isn’t considered “pure” anymore once she has entered the man’s house, her own family also forces her into the marriage to avoid embarrassment in the eyes of society.

Many nonprofit organizations have been trying to prevent bride kidnapping by creating awareness regarding the issue and one of them is the National Federation of Female Communities of Kyrgyzstan, which is funded by the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. The NFFCK is creating awareness and trying to educate people about the dangers of bride kidnapping and the woman’s right to choose when, whom and if she wants to marry.

Even though a lot of organizations are working towards the end of this horrendous custom, it would still take a long time for it to be eradicated completely and for the women to lead a normal and safe life away from the constant fear of being kidnapped and being forced to marry.

Here is a link to one of the documenaries made to create awarenss on this subject : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKAusMNTNnk