Hendon MP Andrew Dismore is calling for the government to tackle the problem faced by Orthodox Jewish women who are unable to obtain a divorce due to their husbands refusing.

The MP promoted a ten minute rule bill to free "chained women" in Parliament yesterday following the public naming and shaming of a Hampstead Garden Suburb resident to force his estranged wife a get.

Under Jewish religious law, a woman needs her former husband's permission to remarry in a synagogue.

Yiki (Nick) Loewenstein, of Kingsley Way, refused to grant a religious divorce to his wife, Bryna Loewenstein, of New York, since he separated from her more than eleven years ago, even though their marriage was dissolved in the courts in December 1991.

Rabbi Pini Dunner of the Saatchi Synagogue placed an advertisement in the December 15 issue of the Jewish Chronicle publicising the refusal of Mr Loewenstein, a metal trader, to allow his wife a get.

The Hendon MP said: "The present law means a husband can effectively hold his wife to ransom, and can demand money, property, or other rights concerning custody or child maintenance, in return for a divorce.

"Without a get, a woman who has a child by a subsequent partner, is defined as an adulteress and a child becomes an illegitimate outcast.

"It's essential that action is taken to deal with this extremely urgent social problem."

Rabbi Pini Dunner added: "We must try and write out the evil perpetrators of this psychological violence in the Jewish community in any way we can. If this works, Mr Dismore will have done our community a great service."