Evariste-Vital Luminais - Pirates normands au IXe siècle

Bride kidnapping, also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a practice in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry. Bride kidnapping (hence the

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsHmong in Southeast Asia, the Tzeltal in Mexico, and the

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

in Europe. Bride kidnapping still occurs in various parts of the world, but it is most common in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

. In most nations, bride kidnapping is considered a

sex crime Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes. Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...

because of the implied element of rape, rather than a valid form of marriage. Some types of it may also be seen as falling along the continuum between

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

and

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...

. The term is sometimes confused with

elopement Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...

s, in which a couple runs away together and seeks the consent of their parents later. In some cases, the woman cooperates with or accedes to the kidnapping, typically in an effort to save face for herself or her parents. In many jurisdictions, this used to be encouraged by so-called

marry-your-rapist law A marry-your-rapist law, marry-the-rapist law, or rape-marriage law is a rule of rape law in a jurisdiction under which a man who commits rape, sexual assault, statutory rape, abduction or other similar act is exonerated if he marries his fema ...

s. Even in countries where the practice is against the law, if judicial enforcement is weak,

customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudina ...

("traditional practices") may prevail. Bride kidnapping is often (but not always) a form of

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a mal ...

. It may be connected to the practice of

bride price Bride price, bride-dowry ( Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...

, wealth paid by the groom and his family to the bride's parents, and the inability or unwillingness to pay it. Bride kidnapping is distinguished from '' raptio'' in that the former refers to the abduction of one woman by one man (and his friends and relatives), and is still a widespread practice, whereas the latter refers to the large scale abduction of women by groups of men, possibly in a time of war. ''Raptio'' was assumed to be a historical practice, hence the Latin term, but the 21st century has seen a resurgence of

war rape Wartime sexual violence is rape or other forms of sexual violence committed by combatants during armed conflict, war, or military occupation often as spoils of war, but sometimes, particularly in ethnic conflict, the phenomenon has broader so ...

, some of which has elements of bride kidnapping; for example, women and girls abducted by

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

in Nigeria, the

Lord's Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the ...

in Uganda and

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

in the Middle East have been taken as wives by their abductors. Rituals indicating a symbolic bride kidnapping still exist in some cultures (such as

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...

), as part of traditions surrounding a wedding. According to some sources, the

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...

is a relic of marriage by capture, based on the practice of the husband going into hiding with his wife to avoid reprisals from her relatives, with the intention that the woman would be pregnant by the end of the month.

Background and rationale

Though the motivations behind bride kidnapping vary by region, the cultures with traditions of marriage by abduction are generally

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...

with a strong

social stigma Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, ra ...

on sex or pregnancy outside marriage and illegitimate births. In some modern cases, the couple colluded to elope under the guise of a bride kidnapping, presenting their parents with a ''fait accompli''. In most cases, however, the men who resort to capturing a wife are often of lower

social status Social status is the level of social value a person is considered to possess. More specifically, it refers to the relative level of respect, honour, assumed competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society. St ...

, because of poverty, disease, poor character or criminality. They are sometimes deterred from legitimately seeking a wife because of the payment the woman's family expects, the

(not to be confused with a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

, paid by the ''woman's'' family). In agricultural and patriarchal societies, where bride kidnapping is most common, children work for their families. A woman leaves her birth family, geographically and economically, when she marries, becoming instead a member of the groom's family. (See

patrilocality In social anthropology, patrilocal residence or patrilocality, also known as virilocal residence or virilocality, are terms referring to the social system in which a married couple resides with or near the husband's parents. The concept of loca ...

for an anthropological explanation.) Due to this loss of labour, the women's families do not want their daughters to marry young, and demand economic compensation (the aforementioned bride price) when they do leave them. This conflicts with the interests of men, who want to marry early, as marriage means an increase in social status, and the interests of the groom's family, who will gain another pair of hands for the family farm, business or home. Depending on the legal system under which she lives, the consent of the woman may not be a factor in judging the validity of the marriage. In addition to the issue of

, bride kidnapping may have other negative effects on young women and their society. For example, fear of kidnap is cited as a reason for the lower participation of girls in the education system. The mechanism of marriage by abduction varies by location. This article surveys the phenomenon by region, drawing on common cultural factors for patterns, but noting country-level distinctions.

Africa

Egypt

There have been cases of

Coptic Christian Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts ar ...

women and girls abducted, forced to convert to Islam and then married to Muslim men. The practice has increased with the rise of

Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...

networks under president Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi, who pay as much as $3000 for every Coptic Christian woman kidnapped, raped and married to a Muslim man.

Ethiopia

Bride kidnapping is prevalent in many regions of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. According to surveys conducted in 2003 by the National Committee on Traditional Practices in Ethiopia, the custom's prevalence rate was estimated at 69 percent nationally, and highest in the

Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; am, የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል, Yädäbub Bḥer Bḥeräsäbočna Hzboč Kllə) is a regional state in southwestern E ...

at 92 percent. A man working in co-ordination with his friends may kidnap a girl or woman, sometimes using a horse to ease the escape. The abductor will then hide his intended bride or bring her to his family and rape her, sometimes in front of his family, until she becomes pregnant. As the father of the woman's child, the man can claim her as his wife.BBC, "Ethiopia: Revenge of the Abducted Bride" Subsequently, the kidnapper may try to negotiate a

with the village elders to legitimize the marriage. Girls as young as eleven years old are reported to have been kidnapped for the purpose of marriage. Though Ethiopia criminalised such abductions and raised the

marriageable age Marriageable age (or marriage age) is the general age, as a legal age or as the minimum age subject to parental, religious or other forms of social approval, at which a person is legitimately allowed for marriage. Age and other prerequisites t ...

to 18 in 2004, the law has not been well implemented. A 2016 UNICEF evidence review (based on data from 2010 and 2013) estimated that 10 to 13 percent of marriages in the highest risk areas involved abduction, with rates of 1.4 percent to 2.4 percent in lower risk areas of the country. The bride of the

may suffer from the psychological and physical consequences of forced sexual activity and early pregnancy and the early end to her education.UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ''ETHIOPIA: Surviving forced marriage'' Women and girls who are kidnapped may also be exposed to

sexually transmitted disease Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and or ...

s such as

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Kenya

Forced marriages continue to be a problem for young girls in Kenya. The

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

reports that children and young teenaged girls (aged ten and up) are sometimes married to men two decades older. Marriage by abduction used to be, and to some extent still is, a customary practice for the

Kisii Kisii may refer to: * Kisii, Kenya, the inaugural capital city of Kenya * Kisii County, one of the 47 counties of Kenya * Gucha District, in Kenya, also known as ''South Kisii District'' * Nyamira District, in Kenya, also known as ''North Kisii Di ...

ethnic group. In their practice, the abductor kidnaps the woman forcibly and rapes her in an attempt to impregnate her. The "bride" is then coerced through the stigma of pregnancy and rape to marry her abductor. Though most common in the late 19th century through the 1960s, such marriage abductions still occur occasionally. The Turkana tribe also practised marriage by abduction. In this culture, bridal kidnapping (''akomari'') occurred before any formal attempts to arrange a marriage with a bride's family. According to one scholar, a successful bridal kidnapping raised the abductor's reputation in his community, and allowed him to negotiate a lower

with his wife's family. Should an attempted abductor fail to seize his bride, he was bound to pay a bride price to the woman's family, provide additional gifts and payments to the family, and to have an arranged marriage (''akota'').

Rwanda

Bride-kidnapping is prevalent in areas of

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. Often the abductor kidnaps the woman from her household or follows her outside and abducts her. He and his companions may then rape the woman to ensure that she submits to the marriage. The family of the woman either then feels obliged to consent to the union,Ruremesha,
RIGHTS-RWANDA: Marriage by Abduction Worries Women's Groups
or is forced to when the kidnapper impregnates her, as pregnant women are not seen as eligible for marriage. The marriage is confirmed with a ceremony that follows the abduction by several days. In such ceremonies, the abductor asks his bride's parents to forgive him for abducting their daughter. The man may offer a cow, money, or other goods as restitution to his bride's family. Bride-kidnap marriages in Rwanda often lead to poor outcomes. Human rights workers report that one third of men who abduct their wives abandon them, leaving the wife without support and impaired in finding a future marriage. Additionally, with the growing frequency of bride-kidnapping, some men choose not to solemnize their marriage at all, keeping their "bride" as a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

. Bride kidnapping is not specifically outlawed in Rwanda, though violent abductions are punishable as rape. According to a criminal justice official, bride kidnappers are virtually never tried in court: "When we hear about abduction, we hunt down the kidnappers and arrest them and sometimes the husband, too. But we're forced to let them all go several days later," says an official at the criminal investigation department in Nyagatare, the capital of Umutara. Women's rights groups have attempted to reverse the tradition by conducting awareness raising campaigns and by promoting gender equity, but the progress has been limited so far.

South Africa

The practice is known as ''

ukuthwalwa Ukuthwala is the South African term for bride kidnapping, the practice of a man abducting a young girl and forcing her into marriage, often with the consent of her parents. These "marriages by capture" occur mainly in rural parts of South Afric ...

'' or simply ''thwala'' in the Nguni-speaking tribes. (The

Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

call it ''tjhobediso''.) Among

Zulu people Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Nata ...

, ''thwala'' was once an acceptable way for two young people in love to get married when their families opposed the match, and so it was actually a form of elopement. ''Thwala'' has been abused, however, "to victimize isolated rural women and enrich male relatives."

Central Asia

In Central Asia, bride kidnapping exists in

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...

, and

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...

, an autonomous region of

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

. Though origin of the tradition in the region is disputed, the rate of nonconsensual bride kidnappings appears to be increasing in several countries throughout Central Asia as the political and economic climate changes.

Kyrgyzstan

Despite its illegality, with the practice being subjected to stricter crackdowns in 2013, which punish it by a prison sentences of up to 10 years, in many primarily rural areas, bride kidnapping, known as '' ala kachuu'' (to take and flee), is an accepted and common way of taking a wife. The matter is somewhat confused by the local use of the term "bride kidnap" to reflect practices along a continuum, from forcible abduction and rape (and then, almost unavoidably, marriage), to something akin to an

arranged between the two young people, to which both sets of parents have to consent after the act. Bride kidnappings that involve

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

do so to psychologically force the would-be bride to accept her kidnapper and his family's pressure to marry him, since if she then refuses she would never be considered marriageable again. Of 12,000 yearly bride kidnappings, approximately 2,000 women reported that she had been raped by the would-be groom. However, the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

disputes that bride kidnapping is part of the country's culture or tradition, and considers it a

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

violation. Estimates of the prevalence of bride kidnapping vary, sometimes widely. A 2015 crime victimization survey included the kidnapping of young women for marriage. Fourteen percent of married women answered that they had been kidnapped; two-thirds of these cases had been consensual, in that the woman knew the man and had agreed with it up front. This means that about five percent of extant marriages are cases of ''Ala Kachuu''. A 2007 study published in the ''

Central Asian Survey ''Central Asian Survey'' is an academic journal first published in 1982 concerning Caucasus and Central Asian studies. It is published by Taylor & Francis, and has four issues a year. According to the editorial staff, "The central aim of the jour ...

'' concluded that approximately half of all Kyrgyz marriages included bride kidnapping; of those kidnappings, two-thirds are non-consensual. Research by non-governmental organizations give estimates from a low of 40% to between 68 and 75 percent. Although the practice is illegal, bride kidnappers are rarely prosecuted. This reluctance to enforce the code is in part caused by the pluralistic legal system, where many villages are ''de facto'' ruled by councils of elders and ''

aqsaqal Aqsaqal or aksakal (literally meaning "white beard" in Turkic languages) metaphorically refers to the male elders, the old and wise of the community in parts of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Bashkortostan. Traditionally, an aqsaqal was the l ...

'' courts following

, away from the eyes of the state legal system. ''Aqsaqal'' courts, tasked with adjudicating

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage ...

, property and torts, often fail to take bride kidnapping seriously. In many cases, ''aqsaqal'' members are invited to the kidnapped bride's wedding and encourage the family of the bride to accept the marriage.

Kazakhstan

, bride kidnapping ('' alyp qashu'') is divided into non-consensual and consensual abductions, ''kelisimsiz alyp qashu'' ("to take and run without agreement") and ''kelissimmen alyp qashu'' ("to take and run with agreement"), respectively. Though some kidnappers are motivated by the wish to avoid a

or the expense of hosting wedding celebrations or a feast to celebrate the girl leaving home, other would-be husbands fear the woman's refusal, or that the woman will be kidnapped by another suitor first. Generally, in nonconsensual kidnappings, the abductor uses either deception (such as offering a ride home) or force (such as grabbing the woman, or using a sack to restrain her) to coerce the woman to come with him. Once at the man's house, one of his female relatives offers the woman a kerchief (''oramal'') that signals the bride's consent to the marriage. Though in consensual kidnappings, the woman may agree with little hesitation to wear the kerchief, in non-consensual abductions, the woman may resist the kerchief for days. Next, the abductor's family generally asks the "bride" to write a letter to her family, explaining that she had been taken of her own free will. As with the kerchief, the woman may resist this step adamantly. Subsequently, the "groom" and his family generally issues an official apology to the bride's family, including a letter and a delegation from the groom's household. At this time, the groom's family may present a small sum to replace the bride-price. Though some apology delegations are met cordially, others are greeted with anger and violence. Following the apology delegation, the bride's family may send a delegation of "pursuers" (''qughysnshy'') either to retrieve the bride or to verify her condition and honour the marriage. A recent victimization survey in Kazakhstan (2018) included the crime of kidnapping of young women for marriage. 4% of married women answered that they were kidnapped at the time and that two-thirds of these cases were consensual, the woman knew the man and had agreed with it up front. This means that about 1-1.5% of current marriages in Kazakhstan are the result of non-consensual abductions.

Uzbekistan

, an autonomous region in Uzbekistan, nearly one fifth of all marriages are conducted by bride kidnapping. Activist groups in the region tie an increase in kidnappings to economic instability. Whereas weddings can be prohibitively expensive, kidnappings avoid both the cost of the ceremony and any bride price. Other scholars report that less desirable males with inferior educations or drug or alcohol problems are more likely to kidnap their brides. In Karakalpakstan, the bride kidnapping sometimes originates out of a dating relationship and, at other times, happens as an abduction by multiple people.

East and South Asia

Pakistan

There are instances in which Hindu women and some Christian women and minor girls are forced to marry Muslim men. Many of these convert, either willingly or by force.

Indonesia

In Bali tradition, Balinese men historically must abduct women for marrying.

Hmong culture

Marriage by abduction also occurs in traditional

Hmong culture The Hmong people are an ethnic group currently native to several countries, believed to have come from the Yangtze river basin area in southern China. The Hmong are known in China as the '' Miao'', which encompasses not only Hmong, but also ot ...

, in which it is known as ''zij poj niam''. As in some other cultures, bride kidnapping is generally a joint effort between the would-be groom and his friends and family. Generally, the abductor takes the woman while she is alone. The abductor then sends a message to the kidnap victim's family, informing them of the abduction and the abductor's intent to marry their daughter. If the victim's family manage to find the woman and insist on her return, they might be able to free her from the obligation to marry the man. However, if they fail to find the woman, the kidnap victim is forced to marry the man. The abductor still has to pay a bride price for the woman, generally an increased amount because of the kidnapping. Because of this increased cost (and the general unpleasantness of abduction), kidnapping is usually only a practice reserved for a man with an otherwise blemished chance of securing a bride, because of criminal background, illness or poverty. Occasionally, members of the Hmong ethnic group have engaged in bride kidnapping in the United States. In some cases, the defendant has been allowed to plead a cultural defense to justify his abduction. This defense has sometimes been successful. In 1985, Kong Moua, a Hmong man, kidnapped and raped a woman from a Californian college. He later claimed that this was an act of ''zij poj niam'' and was allowed to plead to

false imprisonment False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...

only, instead of kidnapping and rape. The judge in this case considered cultural testimony as an explanation of the man's crime.

China

Until the 1940s, marriage by abduction, known as ''qiangqin'' (), occurred in rural areas of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. Though illegal in

imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapt ...

, for rural areas it often became a local "institution". According to one scholar, marriage by abduction was sometimes a groom's answer to avoid paying a

. In other cases, the scholar argues, it was a collusive act between the bride's parents and the groom to circumvent the bride's consent. Chinese scholars theorise that this practice of marriage by abduction became the inspiration for a form of institutionalised public expression for women: the bridal lament. In imperial China, a new bride performed a two- to three-day public song, including chanting and sobbing, that listed her woes and complaints. The bridal lament would be witnessed by members of her family and the local community. In recent years bride kidnapping has resurfaced in areas of China. In many cases, the women are kidnapped and sold to men in poorer regions of China, or as far abroad as

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

. Reports say that buying a kidnapped bride is nearly one tenth of the price of hosting a traditional wedding. The

tie this trend of abducting brides to China's

one-child policy The term one-child policy () refers to a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1980 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. That initiative was part of a much bro ...

, and the consequent

gender imbalance In anthropology and demography, the human sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. Like most sexual species, the sex ratio in humans is close to 1:1. In humans, the natural ratio at birth between males and females is slight ...

as more male children are born than female children. Bride abduction also occurred in Tibetan history, sometimes involving ceremonial mock abductions or as a bargaining procedure.

Japan

According to a study conducted by

Kunio Yanagita Kunio Yanagita (柳田國男, Yanagita Kunio, July 31, 1875 – August 8, 1962) was a Japanese author, scholar, and folklorist. He began his career as a bureaucrat, but developed an interest in rural Japan and its folk traditions. This led to a ...

, a scholar of Folklore in Japan, three patterns of bride kidnapping are known to have existed in Japan: * A man and his cooperators kidnap a woman without notifying her parents; * Bride kidnapping that may occur after parents forbid marriage out of fear for their daughter's social reputation; * Bride kidnapping as an alternative path to marriage for couples unable to pay for a typical wedding. In

Buraku is a name for a low-status social group in Japan. It is a term for ethnic Japanese people with occupations considered as being associated with , such as executioners, undertakers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, or tanners. During Japan's f ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

, there was the custom of bride kidnapping named ''katagu'' (かたぐ).

The Americas

The practice of kidnapping children, teenagers and women from neighbouring tribes and adopting them into the new tribe was common among

Indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

. The kidnappings were a way of introducing new blood into the group. Captured European women sometimes settled down as adopted members of the tribe and at least one woman, Mary Jemison, refused rescue when it was offered.

Brazil

The trope of the captured Indigenous (great, great) grandmother is a standard origin myth for many white Brazilian families, captured in the widely use phrase "my (great, great) grandmother was an Indian caught in the rope" (the phrase Índia pega no laço). The phrase reflect "in part" the facts of centuries of female abductions by colonialists that continued even into the 20th century. For example, in a paper discussing the phrase, Indigenous academic Mirna P Marinho da Silva Anaquiri reports a quote from a teacher in

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-largest ...

interviewed as part of her fieldwork: Helena Valero, a Brazilian woman kidnapped by Amazonian Indians in 1937, dictated her story to an Italian anthropologist, who published it in 1965.

United States

Cases exist within some

Mormon Fundamentalist Mormon fundamentalism (also called fundamentalist Mormonism) is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, ...

communities around the Utah-Arizona border; however, accurate information is difficult to obtain from these closed communities. Most of these cases are usually referred to as

s, although they are similar to other bride kidnappings around the world.

Mexico

Among the Tzeltal community, a

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

tribe in

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...

, Mexico, bride kidnapping has been a recurring method of securing a wife. The Tzeltal people are an indigenous, agricultural tribe that is organised patriarchally. Premarital contact between the sexes is discouraged; unmarried women are supposed to avoid speaking with men outside their families. As with other societies, the grooms that engage in bride kidnapping have generally been the less socially desirable mates. In the Tzeltal tradition, a girl is kidnapped by the groom, possibly in concert with his friends. She is generally taken to the mountains and raped. The abductor and his future bride often then stay with a relative until the bride's father's anger is reported to have subsided. At that point, the abductor will return to the bride's house to negotiate a bride-price, bringing with him the bride and traditional gifts such as rum. The largest Comanche raids into Mexico took place from 1840 to the mid-1850s, when they declined in size and intensity. The captured Mexican girls often became one of several wives of Comanche men.

Chile

Among the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

of Chile, the practice was known as ''casamiento por capto'' in Spanish, and ''ngapitun'' in

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

. Contemporary chronicler

Alonso González de Nájera Alonso González de Nájera (died 1614) was a Spanish soldier and an advocate of reforms in the conduct of the War of Arauco. He served in the war following the Disaster of Curalaba and the great Mapuche uprising that followed in Chile that result ...

writes that during the Destruction of the Seven Cities in southern Chile Mapuches took over 500 Spanish women as captives. In the case of the women it was, in the words of González de Nájera, "to exploit them". The capture of women initiated a tradition of abductions of Spanish women in the 17th century by Mapuches.

The Caucasus

Bride kidnapping is an increasing trend in the countries and regions of the

, both in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the South and in

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North Ca ...

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

and

Ingushetia Ingushetia (; russian: Ингуше́тия; inh, ГӀалгӏайче, Ghalghayče), officially the Republic of Ingushetia,; inh, Гӏалгӏай Мохк, Ghalghay Moxk is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. ...

in the North. In the Caucasian versions of bride-kidnapping, the kidnap victim's family may play a role in attempting to convince the woman to stay with her abductor after the kidnapping, because of the shame inherent in the presumed consummation of the marriage.

Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia

The Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia regions in the Northern Caucasus (in Russia) have also witnessed an increase in bride kidnappings since the fall of the Soviet Union. As in other countries, kidnappers sometimes seize acquaintances to be brides and other times abduct strangers. The social stigma of spending a night in a male's house can be a sufficient motivation to force a young woman to marry her captor.Courtney Brooks, Amina Umarova
"Despite Official Measures, Bride Kidnapping Endemic in Chechnya"
Radio Free Europe, 21 October 2010 Under

Russian law The primary and fundamental statement of laws in the Russian Federation is the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Hierarchy Constitutionism Adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993 with 54.5% of the vote, the Constitution took ...

, though a kidnapper who refuses to release his bride could be sentenced to eight to ten years, a kidnapper will not be prosecuted if he releases the victim or marries her with her consent. Bride captors in Chechnya are liable, in theory, to receive also a fine of up to 1 million rubles. As in the other regions, authorities often fail to respond to the kidnappings. In Chechnya, the police failure to respond to bridal kidnappings is compounded by a prevalence of abductions in the region. Several such kidnappings have been captured on video. Researchers and non-profit organisations describe a rise in bride kidnappings in the North Caucasus in the latter half of the 20th century. In Chechnya, women's rights organisations tie the increase in kidnappings to a deterioration of women's rights under the rule of Chechen president

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, both marriage by capture (''qız qaçırmaq'') and elopement (''qoşulub qaçmaq'') are relatively common practices. In the Azeri kidnap custom, a young woman is taken to the home of the abductor's parents through either deceit or force. Regardless of whether rape occurs or not, the woman is generally regarded as impure by her relatives, and is therefore forced to marry her abductor. Despite a 2005 Azeri law that criminalised bride kidnapping, the practice places women in extremely vulnerable social circumstances, in a country where

spousal abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...

is rampant and recourse to law enforcement for domestic matters is impossible. In

, women abducted by bride kidnapping sometimes become slaves of the family who kidnap them.

Georgia

In Georgia, bride kidnapping occurs in the south of the country mostly concentrated in and around the town of

Akhalkalaki Akhalkalaki ( ka, ახალქალაქი, tr; hy, Ախալքալաք / Նոր-Քաղաք, translit=Axalk’alak’ / Nor-K’aġak’) is a town in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe–Javakheti and the administrative centre of the Akh ...

ethnic minority areas. Although the extent of the problem is not known, non-governmental activists estimate that hundreds of women are kidnapped and forced to marry each year. In a typical Georgian model of bride kidnapping, the abductor, often accompanied by friends, accosts the intended bride, and coerces her through deception or force to enter a car. Once in the car, the victim may be taken to a remote area or the captor's home. These kidnappings sometimes include rape, and may result in strong stigma to the female victim, who is assumed to have engaged in sexual relations with her captor. Women who have been victims of bride kidnapping are often regarded with shame; the victim's relatives may view it as a disgrace if the woman returns home after a kidnapping. In other cases, the kidnapping is a consensual elopement.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

reports that prosecutors often refuse to bring charges against the kidnappers, urging the kidnap victim to reconcile with her aggressor. Enforcing the appropriate laws in this regard may also be a problem because the kidnapping cases often go unreported as a result of intimidation of victims and their families.

Europe

Roma (Romani) communities

Bride kidnapping has been documented as a marital practice in some

community traditions. In the

Romani culture The Romani people are a distinct ethnic and cultural group of peoples living all across the globe, who share a family of languages and sometimes a traditional nomadic mode of life. Though their exact origins are unclear, central India is a not ...

, girls as young as twelve years old may be kidnapped for marriage to teenaged boys. As the Roma population lives throughout Europe, this practice has been seen on multiple occasions in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

. The kidnapping has been theorized as a way to avoid a

or as a method of ensuring

exogamy Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups c ...

. The tradition's normalization of kidnapping puts young women at higher risk of becoming victims of

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extr ...

Mediterranean

Nicolas Poussin - L'enlèvement des Sabines, 1637-38

Marriage by capture was practiced in ancient cultures throughout the Mediterranean area. It is represented in mythology and history by the

tribe of Benjamin According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel. In the Samaritan Pentate ...

in the Bible; by the Greek hero

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

stealing the beautiful

Helen of Troy Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...

from her husband

Menelaus In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; grc-gre, Μενέλαος , 'wrath of the people', ) was a king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of ...

, thus triggering the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

; and by

the Rape of the Sabine Women The Rape of the Sabine Women ( ), also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other citi ...

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of these ...

, the founder of Rome. In 326 A.D., the

Emperor Constantine Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterrane ...

issued an edict prohibiting marriage by abduction. The law made kidnapping a public offence; even the kidnapped bride could be punished if she later consented to a marriage with her abductor. Spurned suitors sometimes kidnapped their intended brides as a method of restoring honor. The suitor, in coordination with his friends, generally abducted his bride while she was out of her house in the course of her daily chores. The bride would then be secreted outside the town or village. Though the kidnapped woman was sometimes raped in the course of the abduction, the stain on her honor from a presumptive consummation of the marriage was sufficient to damage her marital prospects irreversibly. Sometimes, the abduction masked an

Italy

The custom of ''

fuitina The Sicilian term (literally: "sudden escape"; plural ''fuitini'', Italian plural ''fuitine'') refers to a practice that used to be common in Sicily and other areas of Southern Italy, whereby a young couple would elope in order to get married aga ...

'' was widespread in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and continental

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the pe ...

. In 1965, this custom was brought to national attention by the case of Franca Viola, a 17-year-old abducted and raped by a local small-time criminal, with the assistance of a dozen of his friends. When she was returned to her family after a week, she refused to marry her abductor, contrary to local expectation. Her family backed her up, and suffered severe intimidation for their efforts; the kidnappers were arrested and the main perpetrator was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The exposure of this "archaic and intransigent system of values and behavioural mores""Franca Viola"
by Deirdre Pirro in ''The Florentine'' (issue no. 78/2008 / 30 April 2008) caused great national debate. In 1968, Franca married her childhood sweetheart, with whom she would later have three children. Conveying clear messages of solidarity,

Giuseppe Saragat Giuseppe Saragat (; 19 September 1898 – 11 June 1988) was an Italian politician who served as the president of Italy from 1964 to 1971. Early life Born to Sardinian parents, he was a member of the Unitary Socialist Party (''Partito Sociali ...

, then

president of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

, sent the couple a gift on their wedding day, and soon afterwards,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

granted them a private audience. A 1970 film, '' La moglie più bella'' (''The Most Beautiful Wife'') by

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mereg ...

and starring

Ornella Muti Ornella Muti (born Francesca Romana Rivelli; 9 March 1955) is an Italian actress. She made her film debut as Francesca Cimarosa in the 1970 film ''La moglie più bella.'' Early life Muti was born in Rome to a Neapolitan journalist father and ...

, is based on the case. Viola never capitalised on her fame and status as a feminist icon, preferring to live a quiet life in

Alcamo Alcamo (; scn, Àrcamu, italic=no) is the fourth-largest town and communes of Italy, commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distan ...

with her family. The law allowing "rehabilitating marriages" (also known as

) to protect rapists from criminal proceedings was abolished in 1981.

Ireland

The 12th-century

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly san ...

was invited by an instance of wife-stealing: in 1167, the

King of Leinster The kings of Leinster ( ga, Rí Laighín), ruled from the establishment of Leinster during the Irish Iron Age, until the 17th century Early Modern Ireland. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasion ...

Diarmait Mac Murchada Diarmait Mac Murchada ( Modern Irish: Diarmaid Mac Murchadha), anglicised as Dermot MacMurrough, Dermod MacMurrough, or Dermot MacMorrogh (c. 1110 – c. 1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he was deposed by the High King ...

, had his lands and kingship revoked by order of the

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned an ...

Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair Ruaidrí mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair ( Modern Irish: Ruairí Ó Conchúir; anglicized as Rory O'Conor) ( – 2 December 1198) was King of Connacht from 1156 to 1186, and High King of Ireland from 1166 to 1198. He was the last High King o ...

, as punishment for abducting the wife of another king in 1152. This led Diarmait to seek the assistance of King

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin kin ...

in order to reclaim his kingdom. The abduction of heiresses was an occasional feature in Ireland until 1800, as illustrated in the film ''

The Abduction Club ''The Abduction Club'' is a 2002 British-Irish romantic comedy-drama adventure film directed by Stefan Schwartz. Based loosely on real events, the plot centres on a group of outlaws who abduct women in order to marry them. It was written by Ri ...

''.

Malta

In 2015,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

was criticized by

Equality Now Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 to advocate for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Through a combination of regional partnerships, community mobilization and legal advocacy the or ...

, for a law which, in certain circumstances, can extinguish the punishment for a man who abducts a woman if, following the abduction, the man and woman get married. (Article 199 and Article 200 of the Criminal Code of Malta) The article was ultimately abolished by Act XIII of 2018, Article 24.

Slavic tribes

East Slavic tribes, predecessor tribes to the Rus state, practiced bride kidnapping in the eleventh century. The traditions were documented by Rus' monk Nestor. According to his ''

Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...

'', the

Drevlian The Drevlians ( uk, Древляни, Drevliany, russian: Древля́не, Drevlyane) were a tribe of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 10th centuries, which inhabited the territories of Polesia and right-bank Ukraine, west of the eas ...

tribe captured wives non-consensually, whereas the

Radimich The Radimichs (also Radimichi) ( be, Радзiмiчы, russian: Радимичи, uk, Радимичі and pl, Radymicze) were an East Slavic tribe of the last several centuries of the 1st millennium, which inhabited upper east parts of the ...

, Viatich, and Severian tribes "captured" their wives after having come to an agreement about marriage with them. The clergy's increase in influence may have helped the custom to abate. Marriage by capture occurred among the

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austri ...

until the beginning of the 1800s. Common in Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the custom was known as ''otmitza''. The practice was mentioned in a statute in the Politza, the 1605 Croatian legal code. According to Serbian folk-chronicler Vuk Karadzic, a man would dress for "battle" before capturing a woman. Physical force was a frequent element of these kidnappings. Bride kidnapping was also a custom in Bulgaria. With the consent of his parents and the aid of his friends, the abductor would accost his bride and take her to a barn away from the home, as superstition held that pre-marital intercourse might bring bad luck to the house. Whether or not the man raped his bride, the abduction would shame the girl and force her to stay with her kidnapper to keep her reputation. As in other cultures, sometimes couples would elope by staging false kidnappings to secure the parents' consent.

In religion

Catholic law

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

, the

impediment An obstacle (also called a barrier, impediment, or stumbling block) is an object, thing, action or situation that causes an obstruction. Different types of obstacles include physical, economic, biopsychosocial, cultural, political, technologica ...

of ''

raptus {{wiktionary, raptus Raptus is the Latin for "seized", from ''rapere'' "to seize". In Roman law the term covered many crimes of property, and women were considered property. It may refer to: *any literal seizure **confiscation **robbery **kidnapp ...

'' specifically prohibits marriage between a woman abducted with the intent to force her to marry, and her abductor, as long as the woman remains in the abductor's power. According to the second provision of the law, should the woman decide to accept the abductor as a husband after she is safe, she will be allowed to marry him.Ayrinhac, pp. 160–161. The canon defines ''raptus'' as a "violent" abduction, accompanied by physical violence or threats, or fraud or deceit. The

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

insisted that the abduction in ''raptus'' must be for the purpose of marriage to count as an impediment to marriage.

In film

Features

Bride capture has been reflected in feature films from many cultures, sometimes humorously, sometimes as social commentary. Bride kidnapping is depicted as an

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

solution in the 1954 Hollywood musical ''

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' is a 1954 American musical film, directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Gene de Paul, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and choreography by Michael Kidd. The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Do ...

''.

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receiv ...

wrote a short story called "The Sobbin' Women" that parodied the legend of the rape of the Sabine women. The short story, and then the film, focus on seven gauche but sincere backwoodsmen, one of whom gets married and encourages the others to seek partners. After a social where they meet girls they are attracted to, they are denied the chance to pursue their courtship by the latter's menfolk. Following the Roman example, they abduct the girls. As in the original tale, the women are at first indignant but are eventually won over. The 1960

Hong Kong film The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of pol ...

''Qiangpin'' (''The Bride Hunter'') portrays the custom in the format of an all-female

Yue opera Yue opera, also known as Shaoxing opera, is the Chinese opera genre. Only Peking opera is more popular nationwide. Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles as well as femininity ...

comedy, in which Xia Meng plays a gender-bending role as a man masquerading as a woman. Bride kidnapping is displayed somewhat humorously in

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; (often known simply as Almodóvar) born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish filmmaker. His films are marked by melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular culture, and complex narra ...

's 1990 Spanish hit ''

¡Átame! ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' ( es, link=no, ¡Átame!, , "Tie Me!") is a 1989 Spanish dark romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Victoria Abril and Antonio Banderas alongside Loles Léon, Francisco Rabal, Jul ...

'' (''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!''), starring

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival ...

and

Victoria Abril Victoria Mérida Rojas (born 4 July 1959), better known as Victoria Abril, is a Spanish film actress and singer based in France. She is possibly best known to international audiences for her performance in the film ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' by ...

. It is the underlying theme behind the 2005 Korean movie '' The Bow''. In the 2006 comedy '' Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'', the eponymous fictional reporter

Borat ''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' ( Kazakh / Russian: ''Борат'') (also stylized as ''BORДT'', or simply ''Borat'') is a 2006 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Larry Charle ...

, played by British comedian/satirist

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

, attempts to kidnap Canadian actress

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Ander ...

in order to take her as his wife. He brings a "wedding sack" which he has made for the occasion, suggesting that such kidnappings are a tradition in his parody of

. On a more serious note, a 1970

Italian film The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film ...

, '' La moglie più bella'' (''The Most Beautiful Wife'') by

and starring

, is based on the story of Franca Viola, described above. However, before the national debate caused by the Viola case, a 1964 satire directed by

Pietro Germi Pietro Germi (; 14 September 1914 – 5 December 1974) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor, noted for his development of the neorealist and commedia all'Italiana genres. His 1961 film '' Divorce Italian Style'' earned him a ...

, '' Seduced and Abandoned'' (''Sedotta e abbandonata''), treated the Sicilian custom as a dark comedy. The 2009 film '' Baarìa - la porta del vento'' shows a consensual ''fuitina'' in 20th-century Sicily (atypically having the couple enclosed in the girl's house) as the only way the lovers can avoid the girl's arranged marriage to a richer man. Some Russian films and literature depict bride kidnapping in the

. There is a Soviet comedy entitled '' Kidnapping, Caucasian Style'' (, literally translated as ''The Girl Prisoner of the Caucasus''), where a bride kidnapping occurs in an unidentified Caucasian country. The 2007 Kyrgyz film ''

Pure Coolness ''Pure Coolness'' ( ky, Boz Salkyn) is a 2007 film by Kyrgyz director Ernest Abdyjaparov. It won the NETPAC award at the 2007 Asiatica Film Mediale "for a film which with its own gentle touches of originality and humour, ndis beautiful, surprisi ...

'' also revolves around the bride kidnapping custom, mistaken identity, and the clash between modern urban expectations and the more traditional countryside.

Documentaries

In 2005, a documentary film entitled '' Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan'' made by Petr Lom was presented at the

United Nations Association Film Festival The United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) is an international documentary film festival. It was founded by Jasmina Bojic, a Stanford educator and film critic, in 1998 to honor the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of H ...

, and subsequently on PBS and

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...

(ID) in the United States. The film met controversy in Kyrgyzstan because of ethical concerns about the filming of real kidnappings. In 2012, the website

Vice.com ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media ...

did a ful
documentary film about bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

In literature

The millennia-old Srimad Bhavata Purana refers to "riksasa", the ritual kidnapping of the bride: Young Rukmini, "beautiful-eyed" and "with an exquisite waist", did not want the marriage arranged for her to Sisupala, the king of the Cedis, so she arranged to be abducted by Krishna. After he carried her away Krishna married Rukmini "according to the appropriate rights" amid the great joy of the citizens of Dvaraka. 44 In Frances Burney's novel, '' Camilla'' (1796), the heroine's sister, Eugenia, is kidnapped by an adventurer called Alphonso Bellamy. Eugenia decides to stay with her husband on the grounds that she believes her word is a solemn oath. Eugenia is fifteen years old, and so underage, and is coerced into the marriage—both were grounds for treating the marriage as illegal. A

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

story features bride kidnapping. In " The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist" (1903), a woman is employed as a

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, ...

by a man who knows that she will soon inherit a fortune, with the intent of a confederate marrying her. The ceremony does eventually occur, but is void. The manga Otoyomegatari ''

A Bride's Story is a Japanese historical romance manga series written and illustrated by Kaoru Mori. It was first serialized in Enterbrain's '' Harta'' (formerly known as ''Fellows!'') magazine from October 2008 to November 2020, after which it transferred t ...

'' takes place in central Asia. The heroine is married to a boy in an outside clan, but regrets regarding this decision occur when her original clan has problems bearing heirs. Her birth family comes to retrieve her with the intention of marrying her to someone else, but without success. Her new family tells the invaders that the girl has been impregnated, which would be the last seal on the marriage. They doubt this has occurred as the groom is very young and, desperate, they resort to a kidnap attempt, but again fail. The fantasy novel ''

A Storm of Swords ''A Storm of Swords'' is the third of seven planned novels in ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on August 8, 2000, in the United Kingdom, with a United States edition fol ...

'' features marriage by capture (or "stealing a woman") as the traditional form of marriage north of the Wall. The Free Folk consider it a test for a man to "steal" a wife and outwit her attempts on his life long enough for her to respect his strength and come to love him. More often, though, marriages by capture are conducted between a couple already in love, an elopement without the extra element of attempted murder. Jon Snow and Ygritte have such a marriage by capture, although at the time Jon was ignorant of the custom and thought he was merely taking her prisoner. The Ironborn are also known to practice this custom, taking secondary wives while reaving the mainland, which they refer to as "salt wives". The Tamora Pierce fantasy novel ''

The Will of the Empress ''The Will of the Empress'', previously titled ''The Circle Reforged'', is a standalone fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, a continuation of the story of the quartets '' Circle of Magic'' and ''The Circle Opens''. Plot summary Empress Berenene The ...

'' includes bride kidnapping as a major plot point and has extensive discussions of the morality of bride kidnapping. Multiple characters are kidnapped for the purpose of marriage during the novel, which is used as a warning against it (in keeping with the women's rights focus of her series), particularly in the case of poor women or those without social support systems.

In television

In the BBC radio and television comedy series ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

'', the character

Papa Lazarou Papa Lazarou is a fictional character in the BBC TV comedy programme ''The League of Gentlemen''. He appears in four episodes – the first episode in the second series, the Christmas special, the final episode of the third series, and the fina ...

comes to the fictional town of

Royston Vasey ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives ...

under the guise of a peg-seller. He seeks to kidnap women by entering their homes, talking gibberish to them ( Gippog) and persuading them to hand over their wedding rings. He 'names' them all 'Dave', and, after obtaining their rings, proclaims; "you're my wife now". In ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

'', season 4, episode 13 titled "Bloodline" depicts bride kidnapping.

Bibliography

Books

* Adekunle, Julius. ''Culture and Customs of Rwanda'',

Greenwood Publishing Group Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher ( middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as G ...

(2007). * Kovalesky, Maxime. ''Modern Customs and Ancient Laws of Russia'', London: David, Nutt & Strand (1891). * Pamporov, Alexey. ''Romani everyday life in Bulgaria'' Sofia: IMIR (2006). (in Bulgarian)

Journal articles

* Ayres, Barbara "Bride Theft and Raiding for Wives in Cross-Cultural Perspective", ''Anthropological Quarterly'', Vol. 47, No. 3, Kidnapping and Elopement as Alternative Systems of Marriage (Special Issue) (July 1974), p. 245 *Barnes, R. H. "Marriage by Capture." ''The Journal of the

Royal Anthropological Institute The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biol ...

'', Vol. 5, No. 1. (March 1999), pp. 57–73. *Bates, Daniel G. "Normative and Alternative Systems of Marriage among the Yörük of Southeastern Turkey." ''

Anthropological Quarterly Anthropological Quarterly is a widely read peer-reviewed journal covering topics in social and cultural anthropology. It is housed at the George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research. ''Anthropological Quarterly'' was founde ...

'', 47:3 (Jul. 1974), pp. 270–287. *Evans-Grubbs, Judith. "Abduction Marriage in Antiquity: A Law of Constantine (CTh IX. 24. I) and Its Social Context" ''The Journal of Roman Studies'', Vol. 79, 1989, pp. 59–83. *Handrahan, Lori. 2004. "Hunting for Women: Bride-Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan." ''

International Feminist Journal of Politics The ''International Feminist Journal of Politics'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering international relations and international political economy with a focus on gender issues in global politics. The journal was established by ...

'', 6:2 (June), 207–233. *Herzfeld, Michael "Gender Pragmatics: Agency, Speech, and Bride Theft in a Cretan Mountain Village." ''Anthropology'' 1985, Vol. IX: 25–44. *Kleinbach, Russ and Salimjanova, Lilly (2007). "Kyz ala kachuu and adat: non-consensual bride kidnapping and tradition in Kyrgyzstan", ''Central Asian Survey'', 26:2, 217–233. *Kleinbach, Russell. "Frequency of non-consensual bride kidnapping in the Kyrgyz Republic." ''International Journal of Central Asian Studies''. Vol 8, No 1, 2003, pp. 108–128. *Kleinbach, Russell, Mehrigiul Ablezova and Medina Aitieva. "Kidnapping for marriage (ala kachuu) in a Kyrgyz village." ''Central Asian Survey''. (June 2005) 24(2), 191–202. available i

*Kowalewsky, M. "Marriage among the Early Slavs", ''Folklore'', Vol. 1, No. 4 (Dec. 1890), pp. 463–480. *Light, Nathan and Damira Imanalieva. "Performing Ala Kachuu: Marriage Strategies in the Kyrgyz Republic". *McLaren, Anne E., "Marriage by Abduction in Twentieth Century China", ''Modern Asian Studies'' 35(4) (Oct. 2001), pp. 953–984. *Pamporov, Alexey "Sold like a donkey? Bride-price among the Bulgarian Roma" Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 13, 471–476 (2007) *Rimonte, Nilda "A Question of Culture: Cultural Approval of Violence against Women in the Pacific-Asian Community and the Cultural Defense'", ''Stanford Law Review'', Vol. 43, No. 6 (Jul. 1991), pp. 1311–1326. *Stross, Brian. "Tzeltal Marriage by Capture." ''Anthropological Quarterly''. 47:3 (July 1974), pp. 328–346. *Werner, Cynthia,
Women, marriage, and the nation-state: the rise of nonconsensual bride kidnapping in post-Soviet Kazakhstan
, in ''The Transformation of Central Asia''. Pauline Jones Luong, ed. Ithaca, New York:

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in ...

, 2004, pp. 59–89. *Yang, Jennifer Ann. "Marriage By Capture in the Hmong Culture: The Legal Issue of Cultural Rights Versus Women's Rights", ''Law and Society Review'' at UCSB, Vol. 3, pp. 38–49 (2004).

Human rights reports

*Amnesty International
''Georgia—Thousands Suffering in Silence: Violence Against Women in the Family''
, AI Index: EUR 56/009/2006, September 2006 (last accessed 18 August 2011). * Georgian Young Lawyers' Association & OMCT
''Violence Against Women in Georgia: Report submitted on the occasion of the 36th session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women''
August 2006 (last accessed 18 August 2011). * Human Rights Watch
''Reconciled to Violence: State Failure to Stop Domestic Abuse and Abduction of Women in Kyrgyzstan''
Vol. 8, No. 9, September 2006 (last accessed 28 January 2009). * Ireland: Refugee Documentation Centre

8 June 2009 (last accessed 18 August 2011). *Pusurmankulova, Burulai

Freedom House, 14 June 2004 (last accessed 18 August 2011). * U.S. Department of State

11 March 2008 (last accessed 28 January 2009). * OSCE
Building the Capacity of Roma Communities to Prevent Trafficking in Human Beings
12 June 2007, (last accessed 9 March 2012).

News articles and radio reports

* Aminova, Alena

Institute of War and Peace Reporting, 14 June 2004 * Armstrong, Jane,
"Rage or Romance?"
, ''Globe and Mail'' (Canada), 26 April 2008 * BBC
"Ethiopia: Revenge of the Abducted Bride"
18 June 1999 * Brooks, Courtney & Amina Umarova

Radio Free Europe, 21 October 2010 * Kokhodze, Gulo & Tamuna Uchidze
"Bride Theft Rampant in Southern Georgia"
Institute of War and Peace Reporting, 15 June 2006 * Najibullah, Farangis

Radio Free Europe, 21 May 2011 * Isayev, Ruslan,
"In Chechnya, Attempts to Eradicate Bride Abduction"
''Prague Watchdog'', 16 November 2007 * Kiryashova, Sabina,
"Azeri Bride Kidnappers Risk Heavy Sentences"
Institute of War and Peace Reporting, 17 November 2005 * McDonald, Henry,
"Gardai Hunt Gang Accused of Seizing Roma Child Bride"
''The Guardian'', UK, 3 September 2007 * NPR Weekend Edition Sunday
"Kidnapping Custom Makes a Comeback in Georgia"
14 May 2006 * Rakhimdinova, Aijan,
"Kyrgyz Bride Price Controversy"
Institute of War and Peace Reporting, 22 December 2005 * Rodriguez, Alex, "Kidnapping a Bride Practice Embraced in Kyrgyzstan", ''Augusta Chronicle'', 24 July 2005 * Ruremesha, Jean

Inter Press Service, 7 October 2003 * Smith, Craig S., "Abduction, Often Violent, a Kyrgyz Wedding Rite", ''NY Times'', 30 April 2005

Dissertations and academic papers

* Moua, Teng
"The Hmong Culture: Kinship, Marriage & Family Systems"
University of Wisconsin–Stout (May 2003) *Pamporov, Alexey
Roma/Gypsy Population in Bulgaria as a Challenge to Policy Relevance
(2006)

References

144. Srimad Bhavata Purana Book X, Penguin Books 2003

External links

The Kidnapped Bride: A documentary by Petr Lom

* ttp://www.feminist.com/violence/spot/ethiop.html Spotlight on: Violence Against Girls in Ethiopia – Marriage by Abduction and Rape
Rights-Rwanda: Marriage by Abduction Worries Women's Groups

* ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tf1w8 BBC documentary about stolen brides in ChechnyaAired August 2010.
Captured Hearts: An epidemic of bride kidnappings may at last be waning in Kyrgyzstan - National Geographic, Paul Salopek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bride Kidnapping Central Asian culture Marriage, unions and partnerships in Turkmenistan Marriage, unions and partnerships in Kyrgyzstan Marriage, unions and partnerships in Georgia (country) Marriage, unions and partnerships in India Kidnapping Marriage Violence against women Women's rights in Asia Women's rights in Africa Culture of the Caucasus North Caucasus Human trafficking Forced marriage

Background and rationale

Africa

Egypt

Ethiopia

Kenya

Rwanda

South Africa

Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan

East and South Asia

Pakistan

Indonesia

Hmong culture

China

Japan

The Americas

Brazil

United States

Mexico

Chile

The Caucasus

Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia

Azerbaijan

Georgia

Europe

Roma (Romani) communities

Mediterranean

Italy

Ireland

Malta

Slavic tribes

In religion

Catholic law

In film

Features

Documentaries

In literature

In television

See also

Bibliography

Books

Journal articles

Human rights reports

News articles and radio reports

Dissertations and academic papers

References

External links