30.05.2014 Bild newspaper portrays Rroma as traffickers

Engelberg (2014) reported on a case of forced marriage between a German and a Belgian Rroma family. A fifty-year-old, German Rromni – Esma J. – is said to have looked for a bride for her twenty-five year old son in Belgium. Thereupon, according to Engelberg, a seventeen year old, Belgian Rromni was married to the son of the mother. For the bride, the family is said to have had paid 16,000 Euros as a bride price. After the wedding, the young Rromni, which according to her testimony did not agree with the marriage, was forced to have sex with the groom several times so as to produce offspring. After about seven months, the bride was able to free herself from her husband’s family and she phoned her sister. The groom’s mother was accused of sexual abuse, as she arranged the marriage and is said to have urged the daughter-in-law to have sexual intercourse with her son. For lack of evidence, she was discharged. The presentation of Engelberg leaves many ambiguities open and gives space for questionable cultural explanations. For example, Engelberg claims a clear link between forced marriages and the culture of the Rroma at the beginning of the article, which does not correspond to reality: “Esma J. (50) hides behind her red criminal record an does not want to be recognized. The charge against her is severe and enables a deep look into the culture of the Roma. Esma J. is accused of sexual abuse.” If it is in fact a forced marriage in the sense of modern human trafficking, this should not be trivialized. However, given the unclear background of the events, one should be careful with hasty accusations. In any case, the association of Rroma and forced marriages has to be put into perspective. Although arranged marriages do indeed exist among the Rroma, these should be by no means be equated with forced marriages nor are they the norm.