A new Afghan law will allow men to attack their wives, children and sisters without fear of judicial punishment, undoing years of slow progress in tackling violence in a country plagued by honour killings, forced marriage and vicious domestic abuse. The small but significant change to Afghanistan’s criminal prosecution code bans relatives of an accused […]

The debate around criminalising forced marriage was waging amongst feminist scholars and activists long before David Cameron announced his government intended to make the act of a forcing a person to marry a crime. In 2005-2006, the (then) Labour government’s public consultation on forced marriage gave rise to an often heated and polarising discussion, which […]

THE campaign against domestic violence is being stepped up at East Lancashire mosques. Blackburn with Darwen community organisation One Voice has joined forced with charities and masjids to highlight the issues of domestic abuse, honour based violence and forced marriage to the local black, minority and ethnic population. A recent event at the Darassalam Education […]

Cape Town – Abducted and forced into marriage before being raped several times – this is what happened to a 14-year-old girl at the hands of a Philippi man. On Monday morning – more than two years after the girl’s ordeal – Mvuleni Jezile, who was convicted for sexually assaulting the Eastern Cape teenager, is […]

Last May, homicide detectives Chris Boughey and Jeff Balson were in the City Council chambers for Peoria, Ariz., recipients in the police department’s annual awards ceremony, when Balson received a text message: “Help, I am out of the country and I don’t think I am ever going to get back. What do I do?” The […]

A 14-year-old girl who escaped the bloody fighting in Syria is being forced to marry a 44-year-old stranger in exchange for her family’s safe refuge across the border. Hanifa Amar’s parents say they can no longer afford the $250 (£150) monthly rent at a house they fled to in neighbouring Lebanon. The landlord has agreed to […]

Alemtsahye Gebrekidan was 10 when her childhood came to an abrupt end. ‘I was playing outside and my mum called me inside to the house,’ she remembers of the day her world changed forever. ‘She said “you’re going to marry”. I was surprised and I cried but I didn’t say anything to them [her parents].’ Her […]

Too many young Londoners are  “morally ambiguous” about forced marriage and must be taught about human rights, campaigners warned today. A new study of the views of young people from immigrant families found some believe forced marriage can be “good” for women and is done with their best interests at heart. Researchers found that while […]

A charity which helps victims of forced marriage and honour abuse has started a pilot project at a school in Yorkshire, to help teachers spot the warning signs. Karma Nirvana was founded by Jasvinder Sanghera from Derby, after she was disowned by her family for refusing to marry. The charity receives calls for help from […]