The Minister for Preventing Abuse and Exploitation has marked the first anniversary of the criminalisation of forced marriage. A year ago today, forcing someone to marry against their will became a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment. The law, designed to help people in England and Wales but also UK nationals overseas, […]

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A child forced to marry at just 13 who then poisoned her 35-year-old husband and three friends is set to be freed in Nigeria, lawyers and a judge said Wednesday, amid fears for her safety and future.  Human rights lawyer Hussaina Aliyu Ibrahim said she convinced the prosecutor to drop the […]

The first sentence has been handed down under the new legislation to crack down on forced marriages. A 34-year-old man from Cardiff, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was jailed after he admitted making a 25-year-old woman marry him under duress in September 2014, having threatened to kill her father unless she went through […]

A businessman has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for forced marriage and sexual offences. In what is believed to be the first case in the UK since new legislation was introduced in 2014 the 43-year-old man from Cardiff pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, one count of bigamy and one count of voyeurism. […]

Last year the Forced Marriages Unit (FMU), run jointly by the Home Office and the Foreign Office, gave advice and support in 1,267 cases of possible forced marriages. So why are there so few prosecutions? Many say the problem lies in deep-rooted cultural traditions and that young people are reluctant to come forward to the authorities. […]

Whenever I tell my friends that I’ve thought about getting married to a guy that my parents will pick for me, I always get the same response. “Wait a minute, an arranged marriage!?” “But why? Aren’t you worried!?” “Last I checked it’s not the 1900s.” Et cetera, et cetera. They’re right, it’s definitely not the […]

A young campaigner has been chosen to fight for the rights of women around the world. Arifa Nasim, 18, is going global to help an international children’s charity after being selected to join the Advisory Panel (YAP) of Plan UK. Eighteen youths from across the UK have been selected to advise the charity on their projects. […]

The Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) is holding workshops across England in an attempt to come up with ideas on how to eradicate the problem. The Birmingham-based charity, which aims to empower women and girls, is concerned that it still receives calls from teenagers who are being pressurised to marry against their will. “It is […]

Many of the questions read out during assembly at Newcastle High School for Girls reflected the everyday concerns of teenagers: career ambitions, family, the weather. Others, less so: HIV infection, rape and how to avoid being forced into marriage before the end of school also came up. When Hilary French (pictured, centre left), headteacher of the Newcastle upon Tyne independent […]