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Forced marriages: School holidays prompt warning

Published: August 12th, 2013 Updated: December 1st, 2021

Teachers, doctors and airport staff need to be alert to the problem of forced marriages over the school holidays, the government has warned. Ministers said there were concerns about teenagers being taken abroad thinking they were going on holiday but being forced into marriage instead. Figures suggest cases are particularly common during the summer break. The government’s Forced Marriage Unit received 400 reports between June and August last year.

Recent estimates suggest more than 5,000 people from the UK are forced into marriage every year. More than a third of those affected are aged under 16. The government is calling for increased awareness, and is promoting an advice line and information cards aimed at potential victims to explain how they can get help.

Tougher action

Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds said: “The school summer holidays are the time when young people are at the highest risk of being taken overseas for a forced marriage.”Our ‘Marriage: It’s Your Choice’ cards highlight that people who are at risk of forced marriage know they can turn to our Forced Marriage Unit for support, whether they are at home or are already abroad.” Ministers said it was wrong that teenagers who should be thinking about their exam results found themselves lured into a life of fear and subservience instead.

Tags: child brides, Child Marriage Act, forced, forced marriage, forced marriage unit, halo project, haloproject, kidnap
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Pupils at risk of forced marriage warned about danger of being abducted by their own families

Published: August 12th, 2013 Updated: October 17th, 2022

Four children a day are spirited out of Britain over summer holidays
Cards offering help to those at risk will be handed out to schools and GPs

Teachers have been put on alert for pupils who could be taken out of the country and forced to marry strangers. It is thought up to four children a day are spirited out of Britain over the summer holidays to be wed against their wishes. New cards offering help to those at risk of being forced to marry will be handed out to schools, airports and GPs’ surgeries. Aneeta Prem, founder of Freedom Charity, which helps victims of forced marriage, said: ‘The “Marriage: it’s your choice” card is a concise and accessible way to receive information that could save someone’s life.

‘It’s vital that young people travelling abroad for a family wedding realise it could be their own wedding – and know who they should contact should they find themselves in danger.’ Between June and August last year the government’s Forced Marriage Unit had more than 400 reported cases, compared with 1,485 cases for the whole year.
Crime prevention minister Jeremy Browne said: ‘The rise in forced marriage reports over the school holidays is shocking.
‘Teenagers expecting their GCSE or A-level results should be embarking on a bright future, not condemned to a marriage with someone they have never met and do not want to marry. ‘This is a serious abuse of human rights and that is why we are legislating to make it illegal.’

Tags: forced marriage, halo project, haloproject, honour, marriage, school
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Forced marriage ruins the lives of too many girls, so we’re working to end it

Published: August 12th, 2013 Updated: December 1st, 2021

The summer sees an increase in girls from the UK being forced into marriage abroad. This can’t just be fixed at our borders

For most of us, the summer holidays are something to look forward to; a time when we can get away from it all and relax. But for some girls from UK diaspora communities, the summer is the beginning of a nightmare, when they return to their home country to visit family, only to find themselves getting married. The UK government’s forced marriage unit, set up to support girls and women at risk, sees double the number of cases reported during the summer holidays. This year the coalition is raising awareness of this by issuing “Marriage: it’s your choice” cards, which provide help and information for potential victims, signposting them to confidential advice. We are also reminding young people that they can speak to police or airline staff if they find themselves at an airport with nowhere to turn.

But this isn’t a problem that can simply be fixed at UK borders. While our campaign to raise awareness in the UK is necessary, we are also encouraging an international approach to tackle this problem. In the developing world, one in three girls will be married by the time they reach the age of 18, with the highest rates in south Asia and Africa. Girls as young as eight are being forced into marriage, often with men decades older than themselves. The UN predicts that more than 140 million girls will become child brides by 2020 if current rates of early marriage continue. Girls who are forced into marriage are often trapped in poverty with no means to lift themselves out. These girls are robbed of an education, vulnerable to death in childbirth and at a greater risk of domestic violence and contracting HIV. Early marriage is also inextricably linked with girls suffering domestic abuse and being coerced into sex. Put simply, it endangers life.

Tags: awareness, child brides, cultural stereotypes, domestic violence, forced marriage, halo project, haloproject, nightmare, rape
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Forced marriage unit deals with 114 cases involving mental disability

Published: August 12th, 2013 Updated: August 12th, 2013

Campaigners say case of Sikh man ‘married off’ to Indian woman despite not having capacity to consent highlights ‘horrendous’ issue

The government dealt with 114 cases of forced marriage last year that involved mentally disabled people – a number government experts admit is only the tip of the iceberg of a horrendous hidden problem. The Foreign Office, which runs the government’s forced marriage unit with the Ministry of Justice, released the figure after a high court judge was criticised by campaigners for refusing to annul the marriage of a mentally incapacitated Sikh man from the West Midlands whose parents had imported a wife from India for him. Mr Justice Holman ruled that the 38-year-old Briton, named only as RG, was unable to consent to marriage because of his learning difficulties. He requires full-time residential care provided by Sandwell borough council. But the judge decided not to recommend a petition of nullity be issued on RG’s behalf after deciding that RG “gained pleasure” from his Indian-born wife, SK, who told the court she did not know about her husband’s significant disabilities until their wedding day.

The judgment drew strong criticism from campaigners against forced marriage, who claim parents in certain communities in Britain often marry off their disabled children in the hope that their (often unwitting) spouses will act as carers. “The ruling has sent the wrong message,” said Jasvinder Sanghera from the charity Karma Nirvana, which runs a helpline for victims. “One of the definitions of forced marriage is a marriage in which one or both spouses do not or cannot consent and in this case the judge clearly ruled that RG was not capable of consenting to his marriage.” Commending Sandwell council for raising the alarm, Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East, described forced marriage as “wrong, wrong, wrong”.

Tags: annul, forced marriage, halo project, incapacitated, marriage, Sikh, victims
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Government warns of forced marriage risk during school holidays

Published: August 12th, 2013 Updated: October 17th, 2022

The UK government today issued a warning to teachers, doctors and airport staff to be alert to forced marriages over the school holidays. The summer marks a peak in reports of forced marriage cases, when youngsters can be taken on “holiday”, unaware of the real purpose of the trip. Between June and August last year, the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), a joint operation by the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, received over 400 reports.

This year the Unit is handing out “Marriage: it’s your choice” cards, to provide help and information to potential victims, signposting them to confidential advice. The cards also remind young people to speak to police or airline staff if they find themselves at an airport with nowhere to turn. Crime Prevention Minister Jeremy Browne said: “The rise in forced marriage reports over the school holidays is shocking. Teenagers expecting their GCSE or A-level results should be embarking on a bright future, not condemned to a marriage with someone they have never met and do not want to marry. “This is a serious abuse of human rights and that is why we are legislating to make it illegal “My message to young people who feel they are at risk is please come forward; you do not have to suffer in silence; there is help available and it can be stopped.”

Tags: Asian, bride, Child Marriage Act, forced marriage, haloproject, victims, violence
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Forced Underage Marriages Continue in Gaza

Published: August 9th, 2013 Updated: December 1st, 2021

Sitting alone in her gloomy room, 17-year-old Mariam recalled the year and a half she spent at the house of her husband, whom she was forced to marry when she was 15 to escape poverty. As Mariam gazed at the small doll in her hands, suddenly her mind was flooded with memories in which she was continuously beaten and verbally abused in the house of her husband. Her father’s voice, however, interrupted this chain of memories.

“Mariam!” he shouted. She rushed to answer him. He told her, firmly, “You should return to your husband’s house no matter what he did to you. You should learn to accept this. Do you understand?!” As she spoke to Al-Monitor, Mariam, a girl with flawless olive skin, described this scene in her own sad words, giving details of the bitter experience of her marriage to a 37-year-old man. Her father forced her to marry him after he became unable to meet her basic living needs and educational requirements. In 2012, of about 17,000 marriages were registered in the courts of the Gaza Strip, 35% were cases in which the brides were under 17 years old. These marriages are concluded without the courts knowing the girls’ real ages. Meanwhile, about 2,700 divorce cases were registered in the same year, and in 25% of these the wives were underage, Bakr Azzam, a lawyer specializing in Sharia issues, told Al-Monitor. Mariam explained that due to her young age she wasn’t capable of meeting the demands of married life. “I was taken away from my small toys, taken out of my school forcibly and delivered to my husband whom I had only seen once, in front of the judge who officiated my marriage contract,” she added.

Tags: forced marriage, forced marriage unit, halo project, honour based violence, pregnant, rape, victims, violence
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Sikh Woman in Arranged Marriage Faces Life In Jail if She Has Sex With Husband

Published: August 7th, 2013 Updated: December 1st, 2021

A woman in Birmingham has been told she faces jail if she has sex with her mentally disabled husband because he does not have the capacity to consent to sex. The woman was warned by a judge at the Court of Protection that she faces life in prison if she does have sex with him. Despite being told of the sex ban, the woman begged Mr Justice Holman not to annul their marriage – being a Sikh, she said it would be “culturally impossible” to take a new partner and would be consigned to spinsterhood, as well as facing ostracism in her community.

The woman, originally from Punjab, wed the man through an arranged marriage. His late father, who was a leading figure in the Sikh community in Britain, was the driving force behind the marriage.

She went along with the marriage as an “obedient daughter” and did not meet him until their wedding day. After the ceremony, she said she noticed he did not behave “like a normal person”. She said they had sex on their wedding night and a few times after. The woman moved to England to be closer to her husband, who is cared for at a local authority home in the West Midlands. She visits several times a week and the court heard how they take pleasure in one another’s company.

Tragic position

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council had sought to have the marriage annulled because the man lacked the capacity to consent to the marriage. However, in what is thought to be the first ruling of its kind, the judge decided the couple could stay married. He said he could see no benefits in ending it, but noted that arranged marriages of these kinds should not be tolerated in general circumstances.

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Toughen forced marriage law – judge

Published: July 29th, 2013 Updated: December 1st, 2021

Legislation designed to stop women being forced into marriage needs strengthening, a High Court judge has suggested.

Mr Justice Holman said ministers should consider improving the effectiveness of forced marriage protection orders. He was speaking at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London after dismissing contempt of court applications made against two women accused of breaching a forced marriage protection order prior to a Muslim wedding ceremony in Luton, Bedfordshire. Police said the women had breached the order – imposed by a judge to protect a teenage girl – and asked for them to be ruled in contempt of court. But Mr Justice Holman dismissed claims against the women after concluding that police did not have the legal authority to bring such contempt applications in civil courts. The judge said ministers should consider changes to improve the effectiveness of legislation designed to prevent forced marriages.

Tags: forced marriage, haloproject, honour based violence, victims
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High Court annuls marriage between Egyptian girl (16) and husband (29)

Published: July 27th, 2013 Updated: July 25th, 2013

THE High Court annulled a marriage between a 16 year old Egyptian girl who married a 29 year old man against her wishes.

The marriage between the couple, who are both of the Islamic faith, was declared null and void after gardai and others raised concerns that the teen was the subject of a marriage against her will. R, the young girl, had very little contact with her future husband and was very apprehensive about the marriage, the High Court heard this morning. The young girl did not wish to marry at all, but the High Court said that her parents’s wishes took precedence over their daughter’s. The young girl ran away after her purported marriage ceremony in September 2010, prompting the HSE to seek care orders for the teen who is no longer living in Ireland. R left Ireland despite a court order restraining her removal out of the country.

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Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Forced marriages: School holidays prompt warning

Pupils at risk of forced marriage warned about danger of being abducted by their own families

Forced marriage ruins the lives of too many girls, so we’re working to end it

Forced marriage unit deals with 114 cases involving mental disability

Government warns of forced marriage risk during school holidays

Forced Underage Marriages Continue in Gaza

Sikh Woman in Arranged Marriage Faces Life In Jail if She Has Sex With Husband

Toughen forced marriage law – judge

High Court annuls marriage between Egyptian girl (16) and husband (29)

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