Forced Marriage
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On 26th January 2005 the Home Office and Foreign and
Commonwealth Office launched a joint Forced Marriage
Unit. The new unit will be a one-stop shop to undertake
policy, projects and give practical advice to people
at risk of being forced into marriage.
What is forced marriage?
A forced marriage is one where one or both parties
are coerced into a marriage against their will and under
duress. Duress includes both physical and emotional
pressure. Forced marriage is an abuse of human rights
and cannot be justified on any religious or cultural
basis. It is, of course, very different from arranged
marriage, where both parties give their full and free
consent to the marriage. The tradition of arranged marriages
has operated successfully within many communities and
many countries for a very long time.
The Government takes forced marriage very seriously.
It is a form of domestic violence and an abuse of the
human rights. Victims can suffer many forms of physical
and emotional damage including being held unlawfully
captive, assaulted and repeatedly raped.
What help is there available for people at
risk of forced marriage?
If you fear you may be forced into marriage overseas,
or know someone else who may be, we can help. The sooner
we know about the case, the more we can do to help.
Our numbers are: 020 7008 0230, 020 7008 0135 and 020
7008 8706. You can also contact us at fmu@fco.gov.uk.
All calls and e-mails will be dealt with on a totally
confidential basis by skilled caseworkers fully aware
of the cultural, social and emotional issues surrounding
this abuse.
As well as giving advice, we can also take practical
steps to intervene is we are asked to do so. For example,
we can liaise with other authorities for young people
in the UK to be made a ward of court and their passports
confiscated to prevent them being taken and married
overseas. If the young person has already been taken
overseas, FCO consular staff can work with the local
police and judiciary to try to prevent the marriage,
and, in extreme cases, can mount a “rescue mission”
to rescue and repatriate victims.
What is the Government doing?
In 2000, following an extensive consultation, the working
group on forced marriage published “A Choice by
Right”. [DN: Please insert a link to the electronic
copies of A Choice by Right and it’s translations]
The Government has since produced guidelines for Police,
Social Services, Education Professionals and will be
preparing similar guidelines for Health Professionals
later on this year. Hard copies of the guidelines are
available by contacting the Forced Marriage Unit at
G55 Old Admiralty Buildings, London SW1A 2PA.The
Social Services Guidelines are also available electronically.
The minimum age for marriage entry clearance has been
raised from 16 to 18. This is to give those who face
forced marriage extra time in which to mature and resist
familial pressure to enter a marriage that they do not
want. In support of this an extra entry clearance officer
will be established in Islamabad. This officer will
help these reluctant spouses, as well as assisting those
who have been abandoned in Pakistan by their partners,
and who have a right to return to the UK. This will
increase our ability to support victims and stop further
abuse in the wake of forced marriage.
A consultation will be launched later this year on
whether to create a specific criminal offence of forcing
someone into marriage. The consultation document will
appear on this website in due course.
The Forced Marriage Unit also undertakes a great deal
of publicity, outreach and awareness raising work to
target communities. We speak at around 75 events each
year across the UK. We also work closely with the media
and have appeared in everything from Eastern Eye to
Dear Deidre in The Sun. We have funded www.missdorothy.com
to provide a range of videos and online resources particularly
aimed at young people.
More information is also available on the FCO website
at www.fco.gov.uk
Key documents
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