Politico Criticizes Swedish Conservatives for Opposition to Islamic Child Marriage
Peter D'Abrosca
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A popular political news outlet is unwilling to side with conservatives under any circumstance, even if the circumstance is forced child marriage.
“A tug-of-war between the ruling Social Democrat-Green Party coalition and the opposition over the government’s role in managing or eradicating the practice — which predominantly affects young girls, and in some cases boys, from immigrant backgrounds — is emblematic of a broader struggle to find a balance between efforts to integrate a large number of new immigrants and preserve a Swedish way of life,” wrote Politico.
The avowedly left wing website said that right wingers have “seized on the issue” to climb in the polls.
“In a video posted on the [“far-right” Sweden Democrats] Facebook page, leader Jimmie Åkesson hit out at the government, saying: ‘I don’t know what there is to think about. It is, frankly, totally sick that one can’t just simply say no to something as bizarre as grown men having the right to marry children.'”
Right now, Sweden tolerates among migrants what would be considered statutory rape in the United States, given that child marriage is part of Islamic culture.
“While we insist that Sweden protects children’s rights and that we promote a child-centered approach to children’s welfare, we have allowed children of foreign backgrounds to live as married women with older men,” said Juno Blom, candidate for parliament for the opposition right-wing Liberal Party.
Though Sweden has banned marriages where one of the parties is underage, they still recognize such marriages if they are carried out abroad.
“The government has come under pressure to close that legal loophole and invalidate all marriages that involve minors,” wrote Politico. “But it declined to vote for a proposal — put forward by parliament’s committee on civil affairs this spring — that would do so, saying it was formulating its own plan to tighten existing laws.”
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