News
5 February 2010
Forced marriage – could it happen to someone you know?
According to the Staffordshire Safeguarding Children Board, "All Chief Executives, directors and senior managers providing services to victims of forced marriage and honour-based violence need to be aware of the "one chance" rule. That is, their staff may only have one chance to speak to a potential victim and thus their staff may only have one chance to save a life. This means that all professionals working within statutory agencies need to be aware of their responsibilities and obligations when they come across forced marriage cases. If the victim is allowed to walk out of the door without support, that one chance might be wasted."
The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act aims to prevent forced marriages and to protect those who have already fallen victim. Anyone convicted of trying to force someone into marriage could be jailed for to up to two years, and could be found guilty of an associated offence for example of kidnapping, sexual offences, child abduction, trafficking and murder.
You do not have to be the victim to apply for a Forced Marriage Protection Order, which will forbid families from actions such as taking people abroad for marriage, seizing passports or intimidating victims. These orders can also require family members to reveal a person’s whereabouts.
It is difficult to define what constitutes a forced marriage. It is easy to imagine that victims are subject to physical abuse or emotional pressure and blackmail, but this not always the case. It has been said that an indication of being forced into marriage is often a ‘feeling’. A lot of parents may not even realise that they are forcing their child into a marriage, as it is what happened to them or what they see a social step within their society.
Occasionally however physical abuse may be used to force the victim to agree to the marriage before it takes place and there have been some recent well publicised instances of this occurring. In extreme cases women have been murdered as a result of refusing to marry their family’s selected spouse.
It is accepted that forced marriages take place primarily in the Asian community. Whilst traditionally marriage at a young age was the norm, today Asian women who have grown up in the western world can find themselves torn between their parent’s cultural values and the values of the western world. They do not wish to disobey their parents but are may be frightened of the consequences if they refuse.
If you or your children are concerned about a particular individual, then you can call the Staffordshire Safeguarding Children Board on their First Response number 0800 13 13 126.
For information on any matter of the law regarding children, contact Kirsty Evans or Joanne McGuinness on 01782 205 000 or email kirsty.evans@beswicks.com.
The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.
Back to news list