The fight to end bride kidnapping in Central Asia - What in the World podcast, BBC World Service

In Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, two countries in central Asia between Russia and China, there is a so-called tradition of bride kidnapping.

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Young women are abducted, often in broad daylight, and taken to a man’s house, where they are pressured into accepting his marriage proposal. It’s illegal in both countries but recently the president of Kazakhstan has announced a law to further crack down on it and increase the penalties for the perpetrators.

In this episode Malika Burieva, a content creator who covers central Asia, explains where this practice comes from and why people do it. Kubat Kasymbekov, from the BBC Kyrgyz service, tells us how two high profile cases of bride kidnapping led to protests and calls for action and why so few cases get to court.

00:00 Coming up
00:20 Intro
01:02 Young Kazakhstani gives her view
02:14 How did it start and spread?
02:37 Consensual vs non-consensual bride kidnapping
03:22 Why people do it
03:40 ‘I’m sorry’ feast
04:15 Examples of bride kidnapping
05:45 How common is it?
06:45 Are people often prosecuted for it?
07:42 How the families of victimes react
08:30 A kidnapping in the family

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