Women worry, too, that in throwing out the worst aspects of their cultures they will also surrender values they hold dear. It is important, for example, to respect the older members of the family without permitting them to own you. But change can never be kept barking on the outside and the idea of a partnership is replacing the notion of ownership in marriage. Not though, among the most deprived and easily threatened groups, such as the Mirpuris in Bolton and the rural Bangladeshis and Sikhs in other parts of the country, where there is evidence of increasing oppression. Young girls, deeply loved as children, are imprisoned, beaten, starved by the men and the older women in the family, who fear being ostracised themselves.
Many girls run away from home.
Some are taken on 'holiday' and forced into marriages before they finish school. Others are recaptured after their education. Mothers are always involved. In 1998, Sekina Khan and Mohammed Bashir were jailed for the unlawful kidnapping of their daughter Rehana, after spiking her drink. There is anecdotal evidence that a number of such young women have committed suicide.