An investigation commissioned by the Swedish government recommends banning cousin marriages and also proposes making marriages between close relatives—such as an uncle and his brother’s child, or half-siblings—illegal.
The investigation points out that cousin marriages are linked to honor-based norms, and that there is a specific risk of girls and women facing ‘honor-related oppression’ in these marriages. It also highlights that cousin marriages today happen to a considerable extent in Sweden.
The proposed ban would apply to marriages in Sweden but also mean the country would not recognize such marriages conducted in other countries.
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer welcomed the proposal:
We need legislation that provides effective protection against honor-related violence and oppression, and the government is working to tighten the laws in this area. The issue of banning cousin marriages is an important piece of the puzzle in the effort to ensure everyone’s right to shape their own life.
Although not explicitly cited as the reason for Sweden’s proposed ban on cousin marriages, the risk of congenital disabilities is twice as high in children whose parents are closely related, studies show.
In 2005, British MP Ann Cryer sparked controversy by raising the issue of genetic risks associated with first-cousin marriages within the Pakistani community, framing it as a public health concern, but stopping short of calling for a ban. At the time, the Birmingham Primary Care Trust estimated that one in ten children born to first-cousin parents in the city’s Pakistani community either died in infancy or suffered genetic disorders.
Swedish law prohibits marriages between a parent and a child, as well as between siblings. Half-siblings can be exempted from the ban, but cousin marriages have been legal since 1844. Historically, cousin marriages were common among European royal families—Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, for instance, were first cousins—and they remain prevalent in parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. In countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, over 50% of all marriages are between cousins. Among Swedish couples with Swedish parents, ten years ago, about 0.1 per thousand marriages were cousin marriages, periodical Kvartal writes.
