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Posts Tagged ‘forced marriage unit’

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24-year-old man kidnaps 16-year-old girl to force her into marriage

Published: July 31st, 2015 Updated: December 1st, 2021

The West Jakarta Police, working together with the Tambora Police, arrested a young man after he abducted a 16-year-old a child and forced her into a religious marriage.

Tambora Police Commission Wirdhanto Hadicaksono said the girl was kidnapped on Saturday, July 18, in Tambora, West Jakarta.
The girl’s mother only knew that her daughter had disappeared and eventually went to the Tambora police to report that her child was missing.

“The victim, who has the initial W and is 16-years-old, was abducted by the suspect, initial S, age 24, who worked as a gemstone polisher and forced her into an unofficial religious marriage,” Wirdhanto said today as quoted by MetroTV.

Read More: http://jakarta.coconuts.co/2015/07/30/24-year-old-man-kidnaps-16-year-old-girl-force-her-marriage

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Female genital mutilation(#FGM): Thousands of victims ‘residing in the UK’

Published: July 23rd, 2015 Updated: July 23rd, 2015

(CNN)According to UNICEF, 30 million women worldwide are likely to endure female genital mutilation (FGM) within the next eight years. And a new report suggests that the problem is widespread in the UK.

FGM, or cutting, which is illegal in the UK, is a procedure where the female genital organs are partially or fully removed or injured, but without medical reason.

It is usually carried out on girls from infancy up to the age of 15, but older women can also be subjected to it. The research states that in certain cultures, the practice is believed to restrain a female’s sexual appetite and prepare her for marriage.

The female can end up with severe bleeding, problems urinating, cysts, infections, infertility, complications in childbirth, increased risk of newborn deaths as well as emotional scars. Their own lives are also at risk.

An estimated 137,000 women and girls, aged from infancy to above 50, who have gone through FGM and were born in countries where it is practiced were permanent residents in England and Wales in 2011, according to the latest research carried out in 2014. And there are significantly high rates in London.

Although the figures are based on interim findings by London’s City University and the NGO Equality Now, the highest numbers were found in London boroughs, with 47.4 per 1,000 women in Southwark in the south of the city and 38.9 per 1,000 in Brent in the north west, compared to 0.5% in England and Wales as a whole.

Read Now: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/22/europe/fgm-uk-report/index.html

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Britain’s first forced marriage sentence: a lot more still to do

Published: June 16th, 2015 Updated: December 1st, 2021

Last week, the British courts handed down its first ever sentence to a perpetrator of forced marriage. The perpetrator – a 34-year-old businessman from Cardiff – raped and imprisoned a woman, before forcing her to marry. It was just a year ago today that forced marriage became a crime in the United Kingdom.

What does this sentencing mean? Well, first and foremost, it will be a huge relief for the survivor, a young woman who had reportedly been dragged through the long and tortuous process of the defendant flip-flopping on his plea. This is all we can know about the case without putting the survivor at risk.

This unknown woman can now begin to try to put her life back together. Yet, she is the only one of an unknown number of victims living in this country to have been brought justice, those whose families – those who are supposed to support and love them no matter what – would often sooner see dead over shaming the family.

Read More: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/britains-first-forced-marriage-sentence-lot-more-still-do

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Forced marriage: ‘My father threatened to kill me’

Published: June 11th, 2015 Updated: June 10th, 2015

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 with the ceremony. He also pleaded guilty to charges of rape, bigamy and voyeurism and was sentenced to a total of 16 years in jail.

Courts have been able to issue civil orders to prevent victims being forced into marriage since 2008 but the new law brought in last year makes forced marriage a criminal offence.

Read More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33078979

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Why are there so few forced marriage prosecutions?

Published: June 10th, 2015 Updated: December 1st, 2021

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.

Nazir Afzal, former head of the North West Crown Prosecution Service, says the new legislation with the threat of seven years in prison is needed to make progress. “One of the major things stopping victims coming forward is the codes of silence that exist in the family.

“It’s like the mafia. You cover up, as you are so scared of the consequences,” he says.”Victims are not receiving the justice they deserve and this is why this new legislation matters. It’s to help victims – it’s all victim-led.”

Campaign groups say the actual numbers of forced marriages are much higher, with between 8,000 and 10,000 each year in the UK, though this remains an estimate and actual numbers are hard to prove.

Read More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33073875

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Tackling Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage and FGM – 7th July – Central London

Published: April 18th, 2015 Updated: December 1st, 2021

Capita’s Tackling Honour Based Violence (HBV), Forced Marriage (FM) and FGM Conferencecomes as the government amends the Serious Crime Bill to introduce the mandatory duty to report all cases of female genital mutilation, and following the introduction of a new civil protection order that will protect those most at risk.

This event brings together expert speakers from police, education, local authorities, health and the voluntary sector to enhance partnership working and to examine how adopting a stronger multi-agency response can enable prevention, as well as early intervention and support for victims and those at risk.

Attend this event to gain crucial knowledge and make sure that your organisation is fully equipped to deliver effective, holistic services that safeguard vulnerable individuals.

Speakers Include:

  • Keynote: Chaz Akoshile, Joint Head, Forced Marriage Unit
  • Keynote: Tim Thompson, Deputy Chief, Crown Prosecutor, and London Lead for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
  • Chair: Aneeta Prem, Founder, Freedom Charity
  • Sophie Allen, Headteacher, Stonebridge Primary School
  • Alison Byrne, Specialist FGM Midwife, Heart of England NHS Trust, and Member, FGM National Clinical Group
  • Anthony Stansfeld, Police and Crime Commissioner, Thames Valley Police
  • Vivienne Hayes, CEO, Women’s Resource Centre

Website: http://www.capitaconferences.co.uk/public-sector-conferences/detail/article/tackling-honour-based-violence-forced-marriage-and-fgm-conference.html?code=SMMK

Brochure: http://www.capitaconferences.co.uk/pdfgen.html?filename=HBV__FM_and_FGM.pdf&code=SMMK

Source: http://www.24dash.com/news/communities/2015-04-17-Tackling-Honour-Based-Violence-Forced-Marriage-and-FGM-7th-July-Central-London

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How do we keep girls safe?

Published: January 28th, 2015 Updated: December 1st, 2021

I am hurrying through a maze of streets in a city in Pakistan with two officials from the British High Commission in Islamabad. It’s a race against time to rescue a British girl who fears she is being forced into marriage against her will. Sana, a 19-year-old from the Midlands, was brought here by her parents, lured with the promise that she could go to university. Instead, she was physically abused when she refused to marry a man she had never met.

Sana cannot leave the house and is afraid to speak on her mobile, but she can text. Smartphone technology enables British Consul Simon Minshull and his local colleague Neelam Farooq to pinpoint the house. Taken unawares, Sana’s parents let the officials in, and Farooq immediately insists on seeing her alone, telling her father they are concerned for her welfare. Once alone, Sana tells Farooq she is desperate to leave. “She has asked for assistance and we cannot refuse that,” Farooq firmly tells her father.

Now Minshull demands the girl’s British passport. While her father stalls, Farooq hustles Sana out. The family have made a phone call and more relatives are on their way. Things could turn nasty. Within minutes, Sana is in our armoured convoy and we are speeding away. A slight figure with a quiet but determined manner, she confides that she was terrified the officials would not come, or that her father would not let her go.

“The abuse was very bad,” she says, admitting she had considered suicide rather than go through a forced marriage: “I thought the easiest way out was death, hard as that is… either that or get the embassy to help.”

The dramatic rescue in Pakistan was the culmination of work by a special government team – the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) in the Foreign Office. It deals with around 1,400 cases a year but believes there may be more than 6,000. The unit has cases in 74 countries, but 42 per cent involve Pakistan, due to the large diaspora community in the UK. Last summer, forced marriage was made a criminal offence in Britain – a signal from the Government that the practice, which can lead to abuse, rape and murder, will no longer be tolerated. “Forced marriage is a government priority,” says Minshull, “and our commitment is that we will use the option of rescuing someone where we need to.”

Read More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/11368822/How-do-we-keep-girls-safe.html

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Founder of the Freedom Charity, Aneeta Prem, visited Leyton Sixth Form College students to discuss forced marriage

Published: December 15th, 2014 Updated: December 15th, 2014

A charity founder, human rights campaigner and author has spoken to sixth form students about the dangers of forced marriage.

Aneeta Prem, leader of Freedom Charity, visited Leyton Sixth Form College on Friday to highlight the horrific treatment of some girls at the hands of their families. MP John Cryer was also in the audience.

Ms Prem’s charity Freedom believes forced marriage is a hidden problem within the UK and that the figures given by government are under-representing the problem.

She said: “Dishonour abuse looms larger than ever with female infanticide, domestic violence on the rise and forced marriage affecting young men and women.

 

Read More: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/11667854.Charity_founder_warns_students_about_forced_marriage/

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Diana Nammi on women’s rights: ‘We should not use culture to justify murdering women’

Published: October 13th, 2014 Updated: October 13th, 2014

Diana Nammi has been battling for women’s rights since she was a teenager growing up in Iran. A former Peshmerga fighter who came to the UK in 1996, she has been instrumental in the campaign to bring honour killers to justice in British courts as well as striving to get forced marriages banned in this country.

Her achievements will be recognised when she is named as one of the six recipients of the Barclays Women of the Year Awards in London tomorrow. She has earned this for her work at the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO), which she founded in her home in 2002 to provide advice and counselling for women from Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan communities. It now has 16 paid staff and last year helped 780 women face to face as well as taking thousands of phone calls.

 

Read More: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/diana-nammi-on-womens-rights-we-should-not-use-culture-to-justify-murdering-women-9789223.html

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