[Tlc] TL-Hmong and marriage

[justinm at ucr.edu]

FYI.
Thanks,
justin


2009-0328 - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - Hmong couple were legally married, judge rules

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/42034182.html

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Milwaukee County

Hmong couple were legally married, judge rules

By Marie Rohde of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Mar. 27, 2009

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Guolee on Friday declared that a marriage between a Hmong couple was legal - even though the bride said she had been abducted at the age of 12 and said she never consented to the union.

Guolee found that the 16-year marriage between the two was irretrievably broken and divorced the couple who have six children, the oldest 16.

Gregg Herman, a Milwaukee lawyer and past president of the American Bar Association's Family Law Section, said affirming a marriage in such a case is unusual but not unique.

"It's sort of the retroactive granting of a marriage license," Herman said. "It's done more often when there's a technical irregularity."

Both the man and the woman testified that they believed their marriage was valid.

The man, Thaying Lor, 42, is being held in jail on attempted sexual assault and five counts of sexual assault of the woman based on her testimony at an earlier hearing in the divorce case. At that hearing, she testified she had never consented to the marriage and she had been raped by Lor.

Milwaukee County Deputy Sheriff Anthony Moffett contacted the district attorney's office after hearing the testimony, saying it was his duty to report any crime that came to his attention. The wife, who has a different name, is not being identified by the Journal Sentinel because she is a victim of sexual assault.

There are about 40,000 Hmong living in Wisconsin. Lor and the woman came to the United States from Southeast Asia as political refugees.

Lor testified he came to Milwaukee in 1988. The woman was born in Laos and came to Milwaukee with her family at the age of 10.
Mother's testimony

Her mother testified through an interpreter that Lor abducted her daughter and kept her for three days. He then approached the mother and her husband, and a contract was drawn up that included a $3,000 payment to the girl's parents as a dowry and a condition that she could be returned to her family with the payment of $1,200.

The mother, 61, testified she was not happy about the deal but felt powerless.

"At the time we were newly arrived, and I did not know about rights," the mother said. "I thought it was like in the old country. I cried, I prayed a lot. I was so concerned about this child it has created illness for me to this day."

Her daughter was so distraught about her marriage that she twice attempted suicide. She also accused her husband of subjecting her to emotional and physical abuse, which he denied. She received a restraining order after one incident that resulted in him being convicted of a misdemeanor.

The woman completed high school and also earned a two-year college degree.

The couple are scheduled to appear in court next month to resolve issues of how to divide the marital estate and child support.

It is not unusual for women in the Hmong culture here to marry older men while they are in their teens. Several Hmong women contacted the Journal Sentinel and faulted the wife for taking the case to court.

A 29-year-old Hmong woman said she had been married at 14, and it was her choice. Her husband supported her and helped her complete school. She said she felt the woman in this case should have pressed the elders of the community to end the marriage rather than take it to court.

"It disturbed me to know that an educated Hmong female would take her divorce to this extent and disrespect her culture," the woman said.




______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu