SEX IN
DEPTH When kissing cousins aren't so
cute By William Sparrow
BANGKOK - In an article first published by
the London Sunday Times this week, Britain's
Environment Minister Phil Woolas again cited the
dangers of inbreeding in the Pakistani immigrant
community in Britain. Appropriately calling it
"the elephant in the room", Woolas was careful to
point out it was the "Pakistani community" - who
just happen to be largely Muslim. Despite choosing
his words carefully, Woolas, who served previously
as Race Relations minister, has sparked a
controversy amongst British Muslims.
Woolas, who represents the ethnically
mixed region of Oldham East and Saddleworth, said,
"If you talk to any primary care worker they will
tell you that levels of disability among the ...
Pakistani population are higher than the general
population. And
everybody knows it's caused
by first-cousin marriage. That's a cultural thing
rather than a religious thing. It is not illegal
in this country."
"The problem is that
many of the parents themselves and many of the
public spokespeople are themselves products of
first-cousin marriages. It's very difficult for
people to say 'you can't do that' because it's a
very sensitive, human thing," Times Online
reported.
The online blogosphere and other
newspapers quickly followed the story, often
irresponsibly. Spero published a similar story
titled, "UK minister warns of 'Muslim inbreeding",
even though Woolas said no such thing. That does
not seem to matter any longer though as the
"elephant in the room" has been uncaged.
Bloggers and readers commenting on the
story quickly took sides and argued about
"anti-Muslim politicians" or how all Muslim men
want to marry their sister and then give her a
beating for good measure. Sadly, these vicious,
knee-jerk and oft ill-informed debates shift
attention from the real problem.
Interfamily marriages and the resulting
inbreeding are found in many societies and
cultures all over the world. Several states in the
US have passed laws banning inter-family relations
or marriage as time and science began to show the
resulting genetic problems that it causes. It is
not a matter of religion, but a matter of culture
and being uninformed of the hazards.
British Pakistanis' inter-family marriages
are a concern of public health, due to
disproportional representations of birth defects
in their population. For British society it puts
an added strain on the National Health Service,
but short of introducing a law to forbid these
marriages, there seems little can be done. The
continued attempts to educate people about this
seem to have been fruitless thus far.
Woolas is supported by Labour member of
Parliament Ann Cryer, who first spoke out on the
issue two years ago after research showed British
Pakistanis were 13 times more likely to have
children with birth defects than the general
population. Cryer told the Sunday Times, "This is
to do with a Medieval culture where you keep
wealth within the family."
"I have
encountered cases of blindness and deafness. There
was one poor girl who had to have an oxygen tank
on her back and breathe from a hole in the front
of her neck," she added. "The parents were warned
they should not have any more children. But when
the husband returned from Pakistan, within months
they had another child with exactly the same
condition."
A possible answer might lie in
going to the source of the cultural problem, to
Pakistan. A study more than a decade ago found,
"The prevalence of inter-family marriages was
studied in 940 families belonging to four
different socio-economic groups in and around
Lahore, Pakistan. The overall prevalence of
interfamily marriages was 46%. The first-cousin
marriages were most common at 67%, followed by
marriages between second cousins, 19%."
Marriages between families are often meant
to strengthen the bond of kinsmanship. Indeed,
women are often more warmly welcomed into the
households, less likely to face abuse and retain
some status because they are well, family.
The Koran does not have any passages that
forbid marrying within the family and inter-family
marriages are documented back to the times of the
Prophet Mohammad. Herein lays a possibly more
effective solution that actually makes Islam a
positive force in this debate.
If Islamic
scholars and influential mullahs could be
presented with the evidence of why this practice
is bad for their culture, then maybe sharia law
could be amended. Or at the very least have some
of Islam's most influential mullahs in Pakistan
offer guidance to Muslims.
Meanwhile,
media and bloggers that make this a divisive topic
based solely on religion ignore the real victims
that this problem creates. But perhaps
misinformation and religious banter simply make it
easier for people to avoid having to take a good
hard look at themselves and their culture.
William Sparrow has been an
occasional contributor to Asia Times Online and
now joins Asia Times Online with a weekly column.
Sparrow is editor in chief ofAsian Sex
Gazetteand has reported on sex in
Asia for over five years. To contact him send
question or comments toLetters@atimes.com.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
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