Forced Marriages - Would You Know What To Do?

In 2008 The Forced Marriage unit statistics recorded 1618

reports of possible forced marriage in the UK. Of those reported

39% involved minors. This of course is only the cases reported and

is believed to be only the tip of the iceberg.

The high profile case of the doctor forced to marry by her family

whilst in Bangladesh highlighted the impact forced marriages and

the wide reaching powers that the new legislation has.

People need to be able to distinguish between an arranged marriage

and one where someone is being forced to marry against their

wishes.

Perhaps whilst people are becoming more aware of forced marriages

highlighted in the media, there is still concern within the

judiciary that not enough cases are being brought and victims,

particularly minors and vulnerable adults, are not being adequately

protected.

Currently under the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, a

person who is seeking protection can an apply to the court.

However, statistics show this is extremely rare and often the

victim will rely on the help or intervention of a third

party.

The Act provides that a "relevant person" can bring an

application on behalf of the person seeking to be protected but

this is a narrow group of people. Although anyone can bring an

application with permission of the court it is predominately the

police that do this. This will be dependant on police resources

when in fact on occasions it would be more appropriate and quicker

for social workers, support workers, housing officers, education

officers and those individuals connected to the victim to bring the

application.

We will be running a seminar on 15 October which will include

information on how...