Protecting women and girls in Scotland from honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) requires action in a number of ways, but the first major step is to increase awareness among those at risk that help is available. Scotland has not yet got to grips with these problems but the latest figures do […]

OTTAWA – A top United Nations official is praising the Harper government’s foreign policy initiative to end forced marriage of young girls, even if Canada won’t fund projects that would allow victims access to an abortion. The Conservative government’s practice of not allowing aid dollars to go towards organizations that offer abortions to victimized girls […]

BAKER CITY, Ore. — A Moses Lake, Wash., man has been accused of trying to force his girlfriend into a trip to Las Vegas to get married. The trip ended last week at a truck stop in Baker City, Ore., when the woman got out of the car near the gasoline pumps, laid down and […]

Police reveal rise in cases of honour-based violence Lucy Adams Chief Reporter Wednesday 4 December 2013 Cases of honour-based violence and forced marriage in Scotland are rising as a result of increased public awareness, according to police. Speaking at a conference at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan, Clackmannanshire, Detective Chief Superintendent Gill Imery, the […]

A young woman with learning difficulties was “deliberately targeted” for a sham marriage to bolster a man’s immigration case, a High Court judge has ruled.  A wedding ceremony was found to be invalid and declared a “non-marriage” in the Court of Protection case. The 19-year-old woman, known only as SY to protect her identity, has […]

Wed, 18 December 2013 James Hall and Phak Seangly   An NGO is working to free two Cambodian women forced into marriage in China, a representative of the organisation said yesterday. Huy Pichsovann, program officer at the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), said that the two women, aged 22 and 27, were enticed from their Kampong Cham homes in […]

Mrs Justice Parker at the Court of Protection described the ‘grossly cruel’ ordeal of the woman who has a reading age of seven A British woman with serious learning difficulties married a Pakistani immigrant and had his baby as part of a plan to help him remain in the UK, a secret court heard. The 37-year-old […]

Women in southern Nigeria have been protesting against alleged ritual killings and “forced marriages” to traditional deities, it’s reported. Such activities are believed to have cost 11 local women their lives in just two weeks, the Nigerian daily Punch reports. About 100 women rallied outside Enugu State government offices on 10 December, demanding an end to […]

Top citizen for devotion to community: Yasmin Khan named Middlesbrough’s Citizen of the Year 2013 18 Dec 2013 09:50 A woman who has gone the extra mile for her community has been named Middlesbrough’s Citizen of the Year 2013. Yasmin Khan received the prestigious award from Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon at a special ceremony at […]