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Victim of forced marriage aged two
06 March 2013
Young people between the ages of 16 and 25 are most at risk of being forced into marriage in the UK - with children as young as two being targeted.
Foreign Office Minister for Consular Policy Mark Simmonds said: "Forcing someone to marry is an appalling and indefensible practice which is why the Government is committed to eliminating it, with young people particularly vulnerable.
"We will use every means at our disposal, whether it's engaging with schools and communities or through using mobiles and social media to reach potential victims. We want those who are worried about forced marriage to know that there is help out there."
Deputy Commissioner speaks out against forced marriages
07 March 2013
Women who find themselves victims of forced marriage and honour based violence are being urged by Derbyshire’s Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Hardyal Dhindsa, to seek help from the police.
Mr Dhindsa, speaking out in the lead-up to International Women’s Day on Friday, said: “Forced marriage has far-reaching impacts, and particularly with regard to safeguarding children and families.
“I am very keen to see victims of forced marriage and of honour based violence supported properly. It’s vital that we make sure people are reporting these things and that they are being recorded properly. We need to ensure that the victims realise that they are not alone and that help is at hand.”
Scots with mental and physical disabilities forced into marriages against their will
02 December 2012
DISABLED Scots are being forced into marriage against their will, according to a shocking report.Support groups say vulnerable people with mental and physical disabilities are living in fear of a spouse they have been forced to marry.Since a new law was introduced a year ago to protect victims of forced marriage, 75 Scots have called a helpline.The figure is up on last year despite the new legislation and a third of those people are men.
On BBC Tees Radio
29 November 2012
Barry Coppinger, The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland and Yasmin Khan, Vela Group - Talk about Honour Based Violence and Forced Marriages in our Region.
Commissioner Backs New Drive To Tackle 'Honour' Violence And Forced Marriages
28 November 2012
Barry Coppinger, Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner, speaking at the launch of the HALO Project held in Middlesbrough, stressed that, as well as providing support to victims, it was crucial that the police and other agencies had the expertise to develop their services.
Forced marriage has always been a crime in spirit
8 June 2012
In deciding to criminalise forced marriage – the act of coercing a person to marry against their will – the government has made a bold statement: that this heinous, inhumane, oppressive act is never acceptable.The decision couldn't come soon enough. The government's forced marriage unit (FMU) provided advice or support in almost 1,500 cases last year, but the true picture is thought to be even graver. One study in 2009 estimated that up to 8,000 women and men, girls and boys could be entering into unwilling unions each year, often being torn from their lives in Britain to live in an unknown land with an unknown spouse.
Parents who force their children into marriage face jail
07 June 2012
Parents who coerce their children to marry will face jail under moves to be set out tomorrow by David Cameron.The Prime Minister will announce that forced marriage will be made a criminal offence following reports that up to 8,000 Britons are made to marry against their consent every year.
Forced marriage expected to become a crime
07 Jun 2012
Forcing someone to marry is set to be made a crime after David Cameron rejected claims that doing so would simply drive the practice underground.
The move, expected to be announced tomorrow would represent a victory for campaigners who argued that only full criminalisation would deter abusive families.
UK forced marriage victims much younger than previously thought
02 April 2012
Britain's forced marriage victims are being coerced to marry in more far flung places and at a much younger age than previously thought. Last year more than half of the 1,500 cases the Foreign Office dealt with were connected to families in Pakistan, but cases also came from Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, Italy, Holland, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Nigeria and Iraq. One in five victims was a man. Ages ranged from five to 87.
'Honour' crimes are domestic abuse, plain and simple
21 March 2012
This week's Panorama, Britain's Crimes of Honour, made for harrowing viewing. In the space of 30 minutes, the programme recounted horrific murders of women in the UK.
Alarming number of 'honour attacks' in the UK as police reveal thousands were carried out last year
3rd December 2011
Nearly 3,000 so-called honour attacks were recorded by police in Britain last year, new research has revealed. According to figures obtained by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (Ikwro), at least 2,823 incidents of 'honour-based' violence took place, with the highest number recorded in London.
Groomed for sex at 12, stabbed to death at 17: Shocking life of white teenage mother murdered after Asian lover rejected her child
2 December 2011
Teenage girl stabbed to death for bringing "shame" on two Asian families. She had a brief fling with a married man and became pregnant with his child while she was in a sexual relationship with another.
