– If someone had told me that you would not be allowed to marry him, I would have moved from Norway. Because I am so happy in him. That’s what Norwegian-Pakistani “Aisha” says, who has married her cousin. Her name is not Aisha and she wishes to remain anonymous because she believes there is a lot of taboo around cousin marriage in Norway. – Let people live. Let people choose love themselves. Love is love, says Aisha Photo: Laik Hanbaly / news One summer in 2007 she was in Pakistan and fell in love with her cousin. After just a few weeks, they had a nikaah, an Islamic marriage ceremony. – He is down-to-earth and had a good personality that I was very attracted to, says Aisha about her cousin. Want a ban In Norway it is not forbidden to marry one’s cousin. But that could change. The government has sent out a proposal to amend the Marriage Act, which will make cousin marriage illegal in Norway, among other things. The government wants a ban on cousin marriage. Kamzy Gunaratnam, parliamentary representative for Ap, is happy about that. Photo: Martin Holvik – We want a ban because research shows that children of cousins have a significantly higher health risk, says Kamzy Gunaratnam, parliamentary representative for the Labor Party. The governing parties are supported by the FRP and they have thus secured a majority for the proposal in the Storting. Storting representative for the Progress Party, Per-Willy Amundsen, believes that a ban on cousin marriage would also be a good integration measure. Storting representative for the FRP, Per-Willy Amundsen, believes that a ban will be liberating for young people. – We know that cousin marriages often occur in connection with forced marriages and arranged marriages, he says. – A ban on cousin marriage will strengthen young people’s ability to make their own choices when it comes to marriage. Former subject expert on honor crime investigations at Stovner Police Station, Jasmina Holten, told news in 2022 that they see a clear connection between forced marriages and cousin marriages. If the proposal becomes law, cousins who marry abroad will not have their marriage approved in Norway. This means that Aisha’s marriage would not have been approved in Norway if the law applied when the two married. Higher probability of infant death The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) has researched the consequences of kinship between parents. There is a higher probability of infant death and congenital malformations in children whose parents are closely related, compared to other children. According to the research from FHI, there is a doubling of risk. Although there is a higher risk when the parents are cousins compared to when the parents are not related, the probability is still low. – Unmusical with a ban Islam allows marriage between cousins and cousins, and many Norwegian Muslims are connected to cultures where this custom is either accepted or practiced to some extent. Deputy chairman of the Islamic Council of Norway, Mustafa Mahmood, believes it is unethical to criminalize marriages between first cousins. Photo: Islamic Council of Norway The Islamic Council of Norway (IRN) is therefore critical of a possible ban. – It appears unmusical that they want to criminalize relationships between adult and consenting cousins who love each other, says Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Council of Norway, Mustafa Mahmood. Mahmood believes that banning marriage is not the way to go. – If the goal is to protect children from health damage, you should introduce a ban on cousins having children together – instead of banning the relationship, says Mahmood. Aisha says that it is important to distinguish between forced marriage and cousin marriage. Photo: Laik Hanbaly / news Nyheter – Let people choose for themselves Aisha works in the healthcare system herself and does not agree that the risk of health challenges in children of cousin couples is high enough that it should be prohibited. – There are other risk factors that weigh more than the fact that you are a cousin, for example age and parental drug use. Aisha also believes that it is important to distinguish between forced marriage, arranged marriage and cousin marriage. – It is in the word “forced marriage”, it is not the same as cousin marriage. My case is a good example of that. And Aisha makes a call to politicians. – Let people live. Let people choose love themselves. Love is love. Let people find out for themselves what they want in life.
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“Aisha” is critical of the government’s intention to ban marriage between cousins - news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
