A problem with Muslim enclaves

There are, naturally, no statistics on forced marriages in Norway. But HRS's figures for henteekteskap, or "fetching marriages" - in which one spouse is "fetched" from the other's ancestral country - are startling. Between 1996 and 2001, 82 percent of Norwegian daughters of Moroccan immigrants who got married, married Moroccan citizens. For Norwegian daughters of Pakistani immigrants, the corresponding rate was 76 percent.

Indeed, among immigrant groups from Muslim countries, the prevalence in Norway of "fetching marriages" actually increased between 1996 and 2001.

The trend, in short, is toward increased segregation, not increased integration.

These findings are important not just for Norway but for the West, generally. Anecdotal evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the trends shown in HRS's report are representative of the situation in Muslim communities throughout Western Europe.

What to do? Among HRS's proposals for reform of this situation: prohibition of marriages between cousins (with provision for waivers when a genuine romantic relationship can be documented) and waiting periods between applications for "family reunification" within a single family.

Storhaug notes that most forced marriages end up being abusive ones. What if a wife in such a marriage wants out? Officially, of course, European men and women have equal divorce rights. But among Muslims, only Islamic divorce counts; and while Muslim men enjoy divorce on demand, Muslim women - even in cases of chronic domestic violence - have restricted options. It's possible, however, in a Muslim marriage contract, for a groom to grant his wife the right to divorce. And the Norwegian parliament has just adopted a law stipulating that no family reunification through marriage will be permitted unless the wife has been granted this right. Norway is the first nation in Europe to introduce such a law. Let's hope it is not the last.

These proposals won't solve everything, or please everybody. But they're a start - and the Norwegian government's apparent openness to them is encouraging. To be sure, some public officials still fret about "interfering" in Muslim family matters.

Yet increasing numbers of political leaders are finally recognizing that the alternative to "interference" is a Norway with two distinct systems of governance - a democracy for Westerners and an autocracy for Muslims. A country - and a continent - that accepts such a state of affairs is headed for disaster. Norway's neighbors ought to take note.

• Bruce Bawer, an American writer living in Norway, is the author of "Stealing Jesus," a book about Christian fundamentalism. He has done research and translation for the Human Rights Service in Oslo.

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