- Child victims of forced marriage The Forced Marriage Unit, a joint initiative by the Home and Foreign Office, has released its latest figures on victims of forced marriage. In total the Unit dealt with 1,485 cases in 2012.
(18/03/13)
- Forced Marriage Pair Locked Up Two of three men involved in a confrontation with police and a social worker after a schoolgirl complained she might be being lined up for a forced marriage are today behind bars.
(16/07/2010)
- Report on forced marriagesEMF welcomes the findings of the Forced Marriage Independent Domestic Violence Advocate Support Pilot (Sept 2009 – Feb 2010). EMF agrees with the findings and that further funding should be available for the pilot programme to be extended for a longer period of time including holiday periods such as Summer and Christmas, when most forced marriage incidences take place.
(15/07/2010)
- Forced Marriage Unit reports more male forced marriages The government unit dealing with forced marriages received 65% more calls about male victims last year than the previous year. In 2009 it received more than 220 emails and calls to its help line about male victims, up from 134 in 2008.
(01/07/2010)
- New online tool helps professionals assist victims of forced marriage The Government’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) has launched an online resource to help professionals working with young people identify and provide appropriate support to potential victims of forced marriage. Forced Marriage E-learning is the first interactive online training tool which provides guidance to a range of front line professionals on handling forced marriage cases.
(02/06/2010)
- Britons killed in arranged marriage row A British couple and their daughter have been shot dead in a graveyard in Pakistan after their son’s arranged marriage to a local woman went wrong and sparked a family dispute.Mohammad and Pervaze Yousaf and their 22-year-old daughter Tania, from Nelson in Lancashire, were visiting the country for another wedding when they were killed, police said yesterday.
(22/05/2010)
- Sweden launches inquiry into forced marriage. The Swedish government has announced the launch of an inquiry aimed at tightening legislation banning forced and child marriages, which it identified as a continuing problem.The inquiry will seek to gather more information on forced marriages and marriages involving minors, with the aim of suggesting measures to bring about a strong protection against such marriages.
(21/05/2010)
- Forced marriage Road Show begins The first UK roadshow aiming to stop South Asian youngsters being forced into marriages abroad is due to get under way.Victims will tell their stories ahead of the school summer holidays – when the risk of forced marriages is worse.
(13/05/2010)
- MP says increase in protection orders should lead to new law. Ann Cryer has spent ten years raising awareness of the problems surrounding forced marriage. The Labour MP, who is retiring at the next election, had lobbied for the law which saw the age someone can come into the UK to marry raised from 18 to 21 and was at the centre of Forced Marriage Protection Orders. She says it may soon be time to look again at a criminal law solution
(30/03/2010)
- The Conservatives aim to tackle violence and to raise women’s aspirations – at home and abroad. Theresa May argues that forced marriage is on the increase in the UK. The government’s Forced Marriage Unit received over 5,000 calls for help in 2008 from women who feared for their freedom, and nearly half of the cases they handled involved repatriation to the UK. She claims that a Conservative government will deal with the issue, and other forms of violence against women..
(08/03/2010)
- Sold into Slavery. The chilling story of a young disabled woman, who was sold for £8000 in a sham marriage to a Chinese man hoping to enter the United Kingdom, is unfortunately not an isolated case.
(11/02/2010)
- Gay Muslims made homeless by family violence. Charities report an increase in the number of gay Muslim men seeking help, having been forced into marriage. Many are left penniless and homeless after being cast out by their families.
(11/01/2010)
- Children, 9, saved from ‘forced marriages’, government review finds. Almost half of the 86 females who were granted civil safeguards over the past year were children aged under 18, the Ministry of Justice review found. The Government recently announced that children as young as five would be given the compulsory lessons to combat negative attitudes towards girls and women that could lead to a tendency towards violence in later life.
(09/01/2010)
- Social workers failing women facing forced marriage, says report.Social services have been singled out for criticism in a government review for failing to use powers introduced to protect vulnerable young women from forced marriage. The problem is thought to be under-reported and the review expresses the need to reach into closed communities to get the message to women and girls that they are protected.
(08/01/2010)
Forced marriage can involve child abuse, abduction, violence, rape, enforced pregnancy and abortion