Action to stop forced marriage

One of the unusual sights during the press coverage of this year's Conservative Party Conference was guardian columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown praising one of the policies the government announced - a crackdown on forced marriage.

It is a problem with the present arrangements to combat both forced and fake marriages that if someone - usually a vulnerable woman - is being pushed into marrying a person from abroad who they may never have met, they can only object to the visa for that person to enter the UK by signing a public objection - which may expose them, or their family if they are not the people responsible for the coercion, to additional pressure. We need to find effective ways for potential victims to raise objections in a confidential manner.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid wrote that:

'Despite excellent Government work since 2010 combating forced marriage, more needs to be done. It's a despicable, inhumane, uncivilised practice that has no place whatsoever in Britain.'

He added:

"We will be doing more to combat it and support victims. 
"Those who force British women into marriage, be warned that we are redoubling our efforts to make sure you pay for your crimes."



He has launched a package of proposed measures to crackdown on forced marriage.

A public consultation will be launched to determine whether there should be a mandatory requirement for professionals to report a forced marriage case to the authorities. The consultation will seek to identify:
  • which professionals the duty would apply to
  • the specific circumstances where a case would have to be reported
  • potential sanctions for failure to comply with the duty

Further measures announced this week to crack down on forced marriage include plans to:
  • consult on including an explicit reference to forced marriage in the immigration rules to demonstrate that forced marriage is unacceptable in the UK
  • launch a communications campaign to raise awareness of the issue
  • work with the judiciary to examine whether anonymous evidence of forced marriage can be admissible as closed evidence in the appeals process
  • consult on updated multi-agency statutory guidance on forced marriage to help ensure professionals understand forced marriage and their responsibilities

This work will be progressed over the coming months and follows previous action taken by the government to strengthen the law including the introduction of a specific criminal offence of forced marriage, lifelong anonymity for victims, and criminalising breach of a Forced Marriage Protection Order (FMPO).

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