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Coronavirus pandemic puts girls from Hong Kong, Britain’s ethnic minorities at greater risk of forced marriage
- Girls’ plight has been made worse as pandemic puts greater financial stress on families and removes networks of support such as school classes
- Experts fear girls will be sent overseas when travel restrictions are eased. ‘It is very precious to marry a Hong Kong-Pakistani girl,’ says one
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The coronavirus pandemic is putting girls from ethnic minorities in Hong Kong and Britain at greater risk of being forced into marriage. This story is part of a series on women’s issues in China and Asia to coincide with International Women’s Day.
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Jani*, a 17-year-old Briton of Bangladeshi descent living in the United Kingdom, has spent the past year in constant dread.
“I fear that I will be taken abroad and never let back. [And that] I will be raped,” she said.
Jani’s family started telling her she needed to get married after she turned 16, as the Covid-19 pandemic began sweeping through the country in March last year. The pressure on her, along with verbal abuse, increased in the subsequent lockdowns.
“We all live in the same flat. It is very hard. No rest, no peace, just pressure,” she said. “My brother shouts ‘get married’, ‘get married’. ‘You are a shame on the family’.”
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Jani’s family showed her a picture of a 38-year-old cousin they wanted her to marry.
“They want him to come here,” she said. “[They say] I am costing them money, like the food I eat.”
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