NEW MEASURES TO END FORCED MARRIAGES
(27 October 2004)

New laws and a specialist taskforce to promote human rights and protect victims are at the heart of a Government drive to prevent forced marriages, the Home Office announced today. The new measures build on existing work with public agencies, the voluntary sector and community leaders to raise awareness of forced marriage and to encourage victims to seek support and advice. They also strengthen immigration controls in order to break the cycles of violence that follow forced marriage.

The package includes:

• a new joint Home Office-Foreign Office Forced Marriage Unit;
• a consultation to be launched later this year on whether to create a specific criminal offence of forcing someone into marriage;
• forced marriage to be targeted as a specific abuse in the revision of key inter-agency guidance on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children which will have statutory backing;
• the minimum age for marriage entry clearance will be raised from 16 to 18
• an additional forced marriage entry clearance post to be created in Islamabad to help reluctant spouses and increase our ability to support victims.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "Forced marriage is simply an abuse of human rights. It is a form of domestic violence that dehumanises people by denying them their right to choose how to live their lives. The appalling practice of forced marriage represents the opposite extreme and that is why Government is taking tough action to eradicate it.

"It is very encouraging that a large number of community and faith leaders and voluntary organisations have come forward to take a full part in raising awareness of these problems and the support that is available. We look forward to working in close co-operation with them and hearing what they have to say through our consultation exercise."

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "Our High Commissions and Embassies work intensively with police and judiciary overseas to stop Britons being forced into marriage. In difficult and stressful conditions our consular staff have removed victims from situations of extreme emotional and physical trauma. They have rescued victims who have been held captive, raped or forced into an abortion.

"However, more can certainly be done and we hope these new measures will drive forward increasingly effective co-operation between all those groups who are determined to tackle the abuse, both in the UK and overseas."

Commenting on today's government announcement about new measures to tackle forced marriages Aneeta Prem, magistrate member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said: "I welcome plans being considered by ministers to tackle the unacceptable practice of forcing someone to marry against their will. Almost 1,000 cases of suspected forced marriages have been dealt with by the UK authorities since 2000, mainly involving links to south Asian countries. Many UK forced marriages involve people from Pakistan, Bangladesh or India, but it should be noted that cases are also reported from East Africa, the Middle East, other parts of Asia and even Eastern Europe."

"We should also recognise that forced marriages are not just a women's issue - although we are talking about a much smaller number, men are sometimes forced into marriage too.

"It is common to confuse forced marriages with arranged marriages. They are fundamentally different - a forced marriage is when one or both parties are coerced into marriage completely against their will, while an arranged marriage can be a very successful and happy union between consenting individuals and their families.

Aneeta concluded: "In recent years I have heard some truly horrific examples of young women who have suffered mental and physical torture, rape, kidnap and in the most extreme cases have even been murdered. These accounts indicate to me the need for urgent and concerted action to tackle what is an unacceptable abuse of universal individual rights. I welcome the wide spread consultation announced and look forward to real progress being made against this often hidden crime."

Over the last five years the Government has achieved increasing success in dealing with this abuse, including:

• The establishment in 2000 of the Community Liaison Unit (CLU) in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which has dealt with almost 1000 cases of forced marriage and has rescued and repatriated around 200 young people from overseas.
• The production of extensive guidance for social workers and police officers. This has lead to increasing awareness in the statutory sector of the abuse, with hundreds of cases coming to light and being successfully resolved. Further guidelines for education professionals will be released at the end of this year.
• Close work with refuges, NGOs and community groups to raise awareness of the abuse amongst potential victims. We have produced and distributed widely the leaflet 'Forced Marriages Abroad: Your Right to Choose', which was designed jointly with women's groups working on the issue.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, CRIME & VICTIMS BILL

The Government's Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill is the biggest overhaul of domestic violence law in 30 years, proposing tough powers for the police and the courts to protect victims and prosecute abusers. These include:

* making common assault an arrestable offence;

* making breach of a non-molestation order a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years' imprisonment; and

* giving courts the power to impose a restraining order where a defendant has been acquitted but the court believes the victim needs protection.

It builds on the Government's ongoing reform of the criminal justice system, rebalancing the process in favour of victims and witnesses.

Further information on work to tackle forced marriage is available at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/comrace/race/forcedmarriage/index.html

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