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Some American men seeking Internet-order brides find it burdensome, but the new International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, whose leading sponsor was Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., seems a smart safeguard against the growing problem of high-tech matchmaking that exploits and endangers women. “This is an unequal partnership where you have somebody dependent on somebody else in a profound way,” Brownback told the New York Times. “It puts women at a significant disadvantage, in a potentially violent situation.”
The number of foreign women applying for permanent residency under the Violence Against Women Act rose from 2,500 in 1998 to 9,500 in fiscal year 2006. Meanwhile, the number of fiancee visas or temporary visas for spouses issued for women was 37,500 last year, up from 9,500 comparable visas in 1998.
Obviously, not all such marriages end up victimizing women. But it just makes sense that U.S. law would require, for example, a bride-to-be to be told of a man’s criminal record and marital history, or would limit a man to two visas for foreign fiancees.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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