24.09.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma and arranged marriages

The British tabloid Daily Mail reports about arranged marriages among Rroma. It refers to the Channel 4TV documentation “The Gypsy Matchmaker”. At the outset, Styles (2014) claims that 250,000 Rroma from Eastern Europe have migrated to the UK in the past decade. This is an absurdly high number that makes no sense, and is not proven by any sources. Rather, it seems to be the result of the polemical debate about the alleged mass immigration of poor migrants to Western Europe. Thereby “poverty migrants” are often equated with Rroma, although ethnicity is not identified in most statistics. Building on this polemic, Styles claims that immigrated Rroma have brought their tradition of arranged marriages to the UK: more and more underage Rromnja would marry in exchange for bride money with older men, often at the age of thirteen. As a result, he stats that it is impossible for them to complete school or training. This tradition goes back to the traditional Rroma code “Pachiv”, Styles claims. The word “Patjiv” means “honour” in Rromanes and is indeed associated with the preservation of traditions. However, this does not mean that arranged marriages are the norm among Rroma. They are only found among traditional families and only in certain groups, mainly among the Vlax (Romanian) Rroma. Styles present this as if arranged marriages of minors is the normal case among Rroma: “Fresh-faced and delicate, Esme, from Oldham in Manchester, might be barely 15 years old but to many in the Roma gypsy community, she’s a catch. Originally from Hungary, she is just one of the estimated 250,000 Romany gypsies who relocated to the UK from Eastern Europe over the last decade. But with the influx of people has come their traditions – including the custom of marrying off girls and boys once they reach the age of 13.“ Although Styles points out that this tradition is questioned among critical Rroma, by citing the statement of an older Rromni, this remains a marginal note. The impression remains that of an entrenched tradition that makes it impossible to the married persons to shape their own life and violates the British law, which defines marriages below the age of sixteen as illegal (compare McDowall 2014, Steele 2014).