A Maryland jury awarded Nataliya Fox more than $430,000 yesterday in a negligence claim against Encounters International (EI). EI is a US online marriage service that pairs American men with Russian women. "Encounters International has more than 400 carefully chosen, currently available Russian women....As wives, they desire to build a loving home, follow their husband's lead, and stick with the marriage, even when times get tough and things stop being fun." UGGGH.

In the case of Fox, the marriage stopped being "fun" when her husband began beating her. Fox sued EI for negligence in their background check of her future spouse.

Leslye Orloff, the director of Legal Momentum's Immigrant Women Program, heralded the jury verdict as victory, explaining that, "We know that the international matchmaking agencies are not taking any kind of care."

Well, not unless you're a paying client. The EI website explains its indepth screening process in selecting women. "We don't just ask a few routine questions during an initial office visit and admit a woman to our program. Instead, the screening process is continuous and on going...EI office managers interact with the women to understand their sincerity and see if there are any ulterior motives." Too bad they don't offer their future brides this same level of care. (sigh).

While I don't think the jury award is near enough, hopefully it will provide *some* incentive to address the safety issues created by the high-risk situations in which they are placing these women. For information on the rights of battered immigrant women, check out New Beginnings.