In criminalising forced marriage the UK joins a Europe-wide movement

David Cameron speaks with officials as he attends a meeting with the Forced Marriage Unit at the Foreign Office (Getty Images)

Last Friday the Prime Minister announced that forced marriage is to become a criminal offence. The Government launched a public consultation on this issue in December.

The public overwhelmingly responded in support of stamping out this gross abuse of human rights. The numbers of forced marriage rise every year in Britain.

The Government’s Forced Marriage Unit dealt with 594 cases from January to May this year but it is thought there are over 8,000 forced marriages every year in Britain alone. Concern for victims of forced marriage led to the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, which provides a specific civil remedy called a Forced Marriage Protection Order (FMPO).  FMPOs protect victims from a threatened or actual forced marriage. Only 5 breaches of FMPOs have been recorded since the Act was implemented in 2008 and only one breach resulted in a prison sentence.

Dianna Nammi founder of the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation, a women’s rights charity, explained that “breaches of FMPOs are not monitored or recorded, neither are victims informed of their legal rights when an order is breached”. As a result the Government has also decided that breaches of these orders should become a criminal offence.  Tightening up the legal sanctions of FMPOs will provide an additional safety net for victims.

Ultimately victims will be empowered as they will have a choice of obtaining a FMPO and/or pursuing a criminal prosecution. A specific criminal offence of forced marriage is likely to be introduced in 2013. Criminalisation is important to many victims – I discovered this when researching the practise at Cambridge University. All the victims I spoke to agreed that criminalisation will send out a strong public message that forced marriage is socially and legally unacceptable; this in turn will create a change in attitudes and beliefs, much like the law in relation to marital rape.

Changing the law will create a deterrent effect with many perpetrators fearing criminal prosecution. What’s more victims will be able to use the law to as a bargaining chip to negotiate with their parents. Victim’s parents will also be able to use the law to negotiate with their relatives who might be pressurising them to force their child into a marriage.

Contrary to public perception, there is there is no criminal offence for emotional and psychologically forced marriages. Introducing a specific criminal offence will rectify the loophole in current criminal legislation. The criminalisation of forced marriage will make it easier for professionals including the police, teachers and social workers to take action against perpetrators, rather than making use of a patchwork of laws that are not specifically designed to tackle forced marriage.

According to CPS statistics there are over 20 prosecutions every year for a range of offences including kidnap, imprisonment, assault and child sex offences where forced marriage has taken place. A criminal offence of forced marriage will enable perpetrators to be prosecuted for the act of forced marriage itself along with any other offence that takes place.

Alongside criminalisation the Government will provide £500,000 to be divided amongst forced marriage based charities. The Government has also launched a policy support package to tackle the causes and consequences of forced marriage. The aim of the support package is to raise awareness, educate communities, victims and practitioners, tighten up statutory guidance and ensure that victims are prioritised.

Victims who are taken abroad to be forced into marriage will continue to be repatriated to the UK, and when repatriated they will be provided with additional social and financial support as well as having a choice of pursuing a criminal prosecution. It is important to note that a forced marriage criminal offence will enable perpetrators to be prosecuted for forced marriages that take place abroad. Although it remains to be seen whether extradition treaties will be implemented to ensure perpetrators are brought back to the UK to stand trial.

The British government are following in the steps of Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Malta, Belgium and Cyprus, which have already criminalised forced marriage.

Since Denmark criminalised forced marriage in 2008, a Copenhagen-based organisation, LOKK reported an increase in young people coming forward. Other grass root organisations in countries which have criminalised forced marriage have seen a 50% increase in the reporting of forced marriage. In fact a recent questionnaire of over 2,000 people launched by Karma Nirvana, a forced marriage charity, found that 96% believed that forced marriage should become a criminal offence and 71% believed that a criminal offence would not deter victims from reporting such an offence.

Other European counties are also consulting on whether forced marriage should become a criminal offence. After a two year consultation, the Swedish Government announced on 24 May 2012 that they are considering making forced marriage, child marriage and informal marriages which involve child marriages and forced marriages a crime – and they intend to set up a national consultation team, equivalent to our forced marriage unit. I was invited to speak in Parliament in Stockholm on the criminalisation of forced marriage alongside Justice of the Supreme Court, the Equality Minister and Nawal El Sadaawi. Unlike in the UK an overwhelming majority of grass root level organisations responded in full support of the Swedish Government’s plans. The Swedish Government are likely to announce their decision in August 2012.

The British Government has listened and responded to the voices of victims, service providers and practitioners. Criminalisation is important to an overwhelming majority of victims.

For those victims who believe that criminalisation is not important, you will not be compelled to inform the police of the wrong committed against you nor will you be forced to seek legal redress. The choice is yours – but at least you now have a choice.

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• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=752859659 Michelle Brooks

  Brilliant article and so grateful to those who have worked tirelessly to being justice to the lives of so many men and women who have previously had no hope of ending the life sentence that is a forced marriage. Well done Charlotte, beyond this article, your research, the resulting book and your wider activism on the subject has   benefited a hidden and oppressed group.

• Jayaydee

  So, if the UK citizens who were forced to marry return to the UK either with their spouse or separately,then surely they can go to the police, and then the courts, to get their marriage revoked?

  Where that force was applied must surely be irrelevant? The fact is that a UK citizen has been “forced”, ie a crime in the UK.  So, isn’t it still pursuable as a UK crime, against any perpetrator of whatever nationality who is on UK soil – he, or she, may also be a UK citizen themselves, of course.

  What would the legal positions be on the above scenarios.  Now and after enactement of the proposed new law.  Does anyone have the facts?

• timberanddamp

  I would wish to point out, and reaffirm, this country is probably the most secular in the civilised world, the tolerence that has been shown within the acceptance of medieval, and feudal, practices by minorities relies wholly on the future elimination of those practices by those people concerned, through the intergration, and education proceedure, unfortunaltely this process relies on the rejection by the present generation, and their children of all of these mainly religious orientated control practices, this indoctrination is deep rooted in ignorance, as was the contraception policy of the catholic church which has now been proven, the reason behind this policy was to insure the future continuation of its congregations, through ignorance and blind obedience, it needs the rejection from within, of the faiths, and more importantly the congregations, of these institutions to force change, if you were to suggest a change to the circumcision act, to either the orthodox or the lay jews, the backlash worldwide would be incalcuable, the reality is that no world government could legislate in isolation against such powerful forces, the Muslim and Christian forces number over 6 Billion supporters, this is only a small proportion of the religions world wide, we have a great deal of experience of sectariamism and its cause, and effect in Northern Ireland, that division took place wholly on religious grounds, that dispute has been ongoing since the 15th century, who wants to open up Pandoras box ? I agree that the mutillation of children at every level is abhorrant, but these processes have been accepted, and supported by all involved for some 4,000 years, the changes must come from within those cultures, this as I have said will take place through rejection, of these ritual abuses, and the education, of those supporters, with the repudiation having taken place from within those institutions, and churches, however, when we observe the government of the day in the UK admitting that their ambition is to reestablish the basic three R”S, and their ambition is for ten year old”s to be able read, and write, and to achieve the up to ten multiplication table, by that age, I feel that we have a very long way to travel before we can return to the previous position, when this simple task was being achieved by five year olds, the remedy for change must take place from within, any attempt to alter and change indoctrination from external means will be rejected out of hand, by the supporters and followers of these tribal, and barbaric practices, if you look to other cultures like Somalia, Pakistan, and virtually all of the middle east where these methods of coercion, kidnap, blackmail, and imposing ones will on another is taking place, there is no political will within those countries for change, this through these methods allows the retention of power, look to Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudia Arabia, Bahrain, whats being observed is change from within, exactly what I am describing, as Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all of the People all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cant fool all of the people all of the time”

• jadroo

  I am not a legal expert, but I would think if the crime (force) was applied outside UK then it would be the same as robbing a bank or any other crime comitted in another country.  It would be outside of UK jurisdiction.

  However once they are in the UK then one or other has the right to divorce and would have the protection of the law if force or the threat of force was used to prevent them from getting a divorce.

• timberanddamp

  I feel that your response is correct and accept your magnaniomous reply, I wholly concur with your views, but would renounce your approach, in your original response and outburst, you will find that you catch more flies with honey, than vinegar, as i have previously stated, the lashing out with time tried allegations, and worn out pigeon hole reactions, to as you have stated to tease out a reaction, is overplayed and tedious, its the response of lesser minds, and only serves to lessen and detract from the correct issues under discussion, this is a ruse, and ploy, that is being consistently used by commentators so as to avoid the real debate, wish you luck, in your convictions, which i have no doubt are honourable, all the best, no harm done.    

• http://twitter.com/CitizenNoir1 Citizen Noir

  rakeshkaplia time to take the time machine to the 15th century – seems like your 15th century mindset is not helping you in the 21st century

• rakeshkapila

  You are right, Marriage is an age-old  institution. It does need the backing up of the history. You must be a pervert encouraging open marriages the real bain of the western societies and a sign of a degenerating society. Marriage has always been a bound institution irrespective of the century you may decide to live in!

• rakeshkapila

  What is Religion: A fixation of Human Mind ! 
  What is Marriage: A fixation of Mind and Bodies !

• timberanddamp

  All in real terms an illusion, what you see, is not as a rule, what you get.