Meshing cultural beliefs and traditions with the legal system

December 8, 2009 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article titled "Man found guilty in spousal rape case." This article discussed a case where a Hmong man kidnapped, raped, and then forced a 12 year old to marry him with the permission of the girl's parents.

Here is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article

Richard Wanglue writes an article defending Hmong tradition and asking courts to try and understand the Hmong culture.

One Hmong's perspective

Mr. Wanglue brings up a good point about how culture plays an important role in the actions of people and as a country of immigrants we should be open to many different perspectives. And honestly, he may have a very good case in regard to the dowry money asked of the groom's family. But I feel that he misses the importance of also following state and federal laws. And in the case of forcing a 12 year old to have sex and keeping her against her will, it is a very clear violation of state and federal laws.

So although I really don't think the courts lacked an understanding of the Hmong culture in making this decision, I do think it is important we don't forget that perspectives can be very different in different cultures.