Legal News
Forced marriage unit helped 250 children last year including a two year possible victim (6 March 2013)
Date: 06/03/2013
In a joint Foreign Office and Home Office initiative the Force Marriage Unit has helped a child among 250 children.
The two year old child has been seen as a potential victim of forced marriage according to the Foreign Office.
Last year the governmental specialist unit of forced marriage had helped what is probably to be the youngest victim at risk of forced marriage in the UK.
The Forced Marriage Unit, a joint initiative of the Foreign Office and Home Office, can intervene in cases where it believes a child under the age of 18 could be at a risk due to forced marriage.
Carla Thomas, head of the unit, said that cases with very young victims involved the promise of future marriage.
The unit gave advice or support in 1,485 cases last year, according to its latest statistics, which showed that 16 to 25-year-olds were most at risk of being forced into marriage. The oldest victim was 71.
The unit can report cases involving children under 18 to social services, which has a responsibility to safeguard the child. Civil courts also have the power to issue forced marriage protection orders to stop weddings taking place.
These cases which came to the unit last year involved people from 60 different countries of which 47% was Pakistan, 11% Bangladesh and 8% India and more than 80% of the victims were found to be female.
The unit through British embassies is involved outside Britain in rescuing victims who may have been held against their wishes and were being forced into getting married.
Jeremy Browne the Home Office minister said it was alarming to see so many victims of forced marriages and the need to help them. Forced marriage was a devastating form of abuse which could not be accepted by the British society.
David Cameron has pledged to make forced marriage a criminal offence in England and Wales. Ministers hope legislation will be brought forward in 2013 or 2014.
There are outstanding changes which are yet to be made by the legislation to the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007. The changes if passed as amendments to the Act would make parents criminally liable and they can be jailed in England and Wales.
Putting forward the proposals the Home Secretary Theresa May had said last year that forced marriage was an "appalling practice" and criminalising it would send "a strong message that it will not be tolerated". Force marriages are already illegal in Scotland.