Internet Mail Order Brides from Russia

Internet Mail-Order Brides from Russia By: Anthony Randazzo ANT 39

Those opposed to the mail-order bride phenomenon cite the frequent exploitation of women as a reason for banning the practice. Those in favor of it say that Russian women have few opportunities outside of these matchmaking services and that all men cannot be dismissed as predators. The photo below is taken from a matchmaking agency website.
The phenomenon of Mail Order Brides (MOB) is nothing new.
1 st World Husbands Seek 3 rd World Brides.
They come from various nations.
It’s highly politicized, gendered and controversial.
Can it be justified?

A Complex Issue
Data seems to show that failed expectations, not physical abuse or exploitation, is at the heart of most problems in a mail-order marriage.
Then again, those in an abusive relationship would hardly be forthcoming in answering an anthro-pologist’s questions or filling out a survey.

History
Mail-order brides have existed in this country since the Jamestown settlements in 1619.
Later, during the Gold Rush, men went West in search of fortune but found it difficult to meet women. They would correspond with women back East in the hopes of finding a suitable mate.
WWII saw a great number of GI’s bringing home war brides.
The advent of the internet has taken the boutique mail-order correspondence business and turned it into an incredibly profitable business model. A Google search of mail-order brides produces 2.94 million hits.

There are numerous reasons why women join these agencies besides simply gaining citizenship.

Why Russian women choose to be mail-order brides.
Proponents of M.O.B.s say that these women are merely coping with their depressed economic status.
Many women claim a lack suitable Russian mates choose from—there are high rates of alcholism, short life expectancy (58.6 years for men), and disagreement over gender roles. Men are increasingly relocating to the city in search of steady work, leaving a shortage of men on the countryside.
Gender roles in rural Russia are complex. Women often want men to work and help provide for the household. Men often work to gain autonomy from the household, setting aside money for their own entertainment. This desire to have a man who is willing to provide financial stability for the household is often seen by Western men as submissiveness and conformity to traditional gender roles.

Opponents of the mail-order bride phenomenon claim rampant exploitation and opportunism by foreign men.
Opponents also fear possible trafficking and induction into the sex industry by unscrupulous agencies.
According to the International Organization for Migration, organized crime networks control all mail-order bride agencies in the republics of the former Soviet Union.

Russian Matchmaking and Introduction Services
There are thousands of matchmaking agencies in the US, Russia, and abroad.
Many of these agencies are legitimate, some are aimed at scamming both the men and women involved.
http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v =nqG1oGIgRAM The Youtube link is to the trailer of a documentary film about Russian mail-order brides called, “From Russia, My Love”

There is no regulation controlling a matchmaking agency as long as:
They are not involved in slavery, trafficking, or prostitution.
They are not committing fraud.
They’re abiding by the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA).

In the past, matchmaking services would often simply sell addresses and leave it up to the individuals to correspond. Today’s matchmaking services in the former Soviet Union provide a wealth of services including travel arrangements, legal aid, foreign language translation services, and online gift shops, to name a few.

Scams are all too common
Not all matchmaking agencies are equal.
Some agencies post fake pictures and solicit money from American men via form letters.
Some agencies claim to offer matchmaking or employment services, only to traffic the unsuspecting women all over the world to engage in the sex industry.

Why men choose Russian mail-order brides
Nearly 80% of men seeking brides in Russia are white Americans, with the remaining 20% comprised of English, German, and Australian men.
Unlike Asian women, they’re less apparently mail-order brides.
Advertising—agencies describe the women as middle-class and family oriented, suggesting similar values and backgrounds.
The most sought after women from matchmaking agencies are between 25 and 35 years old, have no more than one child, and have some higher education.

The link at the bottom is to a website advocating mail-order brides. It is written by an immigration attorney.
http:// www.goodwife.com/index.php?pid =40

I’ve added this for full disclosure about the previous link: An excerpt from the USA Today online, dated 4/17/2008 3:50 PM (emphasis added) Big names owe big-time on taxes By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
William Livingston, an immigration attorney who specializes in mail-order brides, says a $20,000 tax problem from 20 years ago has swelled to nearly $300,000 owed to California today. "There's no reasoning with these people," the San Dimas, Calif., resident says of state tax collectors. His business — bringing brides here from Russia and Ukraine — is struggling. His own mail-order marriage didn't work out , so he's a single parent living in a small apartment with a son, he says. "Most of my stuff is out of the country, anyway, where (tax collectors) can't touch it," Livingston says. "I can retire abroad, and California can put me on any (tax delinquent) list they want."

A gendered proposition.
It’s important to note that it’s 1 st World men that are in pursuit of 3 rd World women . While some Mail-Order-Husband agencies have appeared, they are dwarfed and overshadowed by the sheer volume of traditional mail-order-bride services.

Regulation, Legislation, and Opposition

Two main methods of bringing a bride to the United States
Marrying her abroad and then applying for an immigrant visa.
The groom can file for a fiancée visa allowing the bride to enter the country for 90 days to marry.

The United States requires couples to have met previously before issuing a fiancée visa. Men will either travel to the MOBs home nation, or will meet in a neutral destination where no visa is needed (like Jamaica).
Once married, MOBs must wait 2 years before petitioning for divorce or face deportation (recent legislation allows for divorce in cases of physical abuse, but not mental abuse or infidelity).
Opponents say that 2 years is too long to wait because it opens the door to the possibility of abuse, domination, and exploitation.
Other countries, like Germany, require a mail-order-bride to wait 4 years before filing for divorce to avoid deportation.

Under the US Violence Against Women Act of 1994, women can petition for residency to extricate themselves from an abusive marriage.
In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act. This was supposed to be a measure to reduce illegal aliens, but its scope was far reaching, affecting many mail-order brides.
The Philippines passed legislation making mail-order bride agencies illegal.

In 1990, Philippines President Corazon Aquino signed a law that outlawed the bride trade. It had little effect. Agencies simply stopped referring to themselves as marriage services, and began advertising as pen pal services.
In 1995 a mail-order bride from the Philippines was shot to death by her abusive husband in Seattle.
The industry is desperate for regulation, but effective regulation has proven to be next to impossible.

Conclusions
Women, dependant on their husbands, face potential exploitation, and are vulnerable to abuse.
Men risk financial ruin and heartache at the hands of their mail-order brides.
Unscrupulous agencies prey on men and women alike.
Still…

2,000-5,000 mail order marriages occur in the US every year.
Despite the legal, ethical, and practical questions that the practice of mail-order brides creates, women and men alike are still actively pursuing it as a mutually beneficial partnership.

Works Cited :
1) Chittenden, V., 2000. TED Case Studies. Case 487: Russian Mail-Order Brides. Trade and Environment Database (TED)
Available from: http://www1.american.edu/ted/bride.htm
[cited 1 May 2009]
2) Harris, N., 2001. Russia: Crashing into the Modern World. Economic and Political Weekly , Vol. 36, No. 33 (Aug. 18-24, 2001), pp. 3134-3136. Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Available from: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4410993
[cited 28 April 2009]
3) Hughes, D., 2000. The “Natasha” Trade: The Transnational Shadow Market of Trafficking in Women. Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp 625-651.
Available from: http:// www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/natasha_trade.pdf
4) Livingston, W., 1997. Do’s and Don’ts in your Pursuit of Miss Right. GoodWife.com.
Available from: http:// www.goodwife.com/index.php?pid =40
[cited 11 May 2009]
5) Luehmann, S., 2004. Mediated Marriage: Internet Matchmaking in Provincial Russia. Europe-Asia Studies , Vol. 56, No. 6, pp. 857-875. Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Available from: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4147369
6) Cauchon, D., Big names owe big-time on taxes. The USA TODAY [online] April 17, 2008.
Available from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-04-13-Taxcover_N.htm

Internet Mail Order Brides from Russia

by Anthony Randazzo on May 17, 2009

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Internet Mail Order Brides from Russia — Presentation Transcript