An MP has spoken against calls to ban first-cousin marriage in the UK, and suggested “advanced genetic test screening” is made available to prospective couples.Independent Iqbal Mohamed said rather than “stigmatising” cousin marriages, a “much more positive approach” should be adopted to respond to health concerns linked to the children of those relationships.
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00:00As the right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay states, there are documented health
00:09risks with first cousin marriage, and I agree that this is an issue that needs greater awareness.
00:18Virginity testing, forced marriages and the freedom of women must be prevented,
00:26and the freedom of women must be protected at all times. However, the way to address this is
00:32not to empower the state to ban adults from marrying each other, not least because I don't
00:38think it would be effective or enforceable. Instead, the matter needs to be approached
00:44as a health awareness issue and a cultural issue where women are being forced against their will
00:51to undergo marriage. In doing so, it is important to recognise that for many people
00:57this is a highly sensitive issue, and in discussing it we should try to step into the shoes
01:04of those who perhaps are not from the same culture as ours to better understand why the
01:10practice continues to be so widespread. An estimated 35% to 50% of all sub-Saharan African populations
01:19either prefer or accept cousin marriages, and it is extremely common in the Middle East
01:25and in South Asia. The reason the practice is so common is that ordinary people see family
01:32intermarriage overall as something that is very positive, something that helps build family bonds
01:39and helps put families on a more secure financial foothold. However, as is well documented,
01:47it is not without health risks for the children of those relationships, some of whom will be born
01:55out of wedlock. Instead of stigmatising those who are in cousin marriages or those inclined to be,
02:02a much more positive approach would be to facilitate advanced genetic test screening
02:08for prospective married couples, as is the case in all Arab countries in the Persian Gulf,
02:14and more generally to run health education programmes targeting those communities where
02:20the practice is most common. I would therefore urge the House to vote against this motion
02:27and to find a more positive approach to addressing the issues that are caused
02:32by first cousin marriages, including the health risks and the consequences
02:39of modern conflicts and displacement of population around the world.