Children, 9, saved from 'forced marriages', government review finds

Almost half of the 86 females who were granted civil safeguards over the past year were children aged under 18, the Ministry of Justice review found.

The number saved in the first year of the scheme was double what government officials had expected to help since the forced marriage protection orders were introduced.

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Under the orders police and councils can confiscate potential victims passports while forcing relatives to disclose where women and children have been taken if they are no longer in Britain.
As part of the review the MoJ interviewed police officers, charities, judges and social work departments to find out how the orders were working.

It found that the government's forced marriage unit dealt with more than 1,600 reports of possible forced marriages.

More than 420 became cases of girls and women being married forcibly in the UK or taken abroad, it found.

Many were then physical, psychological, sexual, financial and emotional pressure.
“A woman who is forced into marriage is likely to be raped and may be raped repeatedly until she becomes pregnant,” says the report published into the first year of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act of 2007.

The review expressed concern that the problem was still being under reported with the message still not getting through to women in closed communities.

It found that some authorities and schools were reluctant to publicise the new orders because of “the presence of a PC agenda whereby there was reluctance to risk causing offence”.

“There was concern locally about stigmatising the minority communities, and people were afraid to use the court, despite active police involvement,” it found.

It added: “Social services ... were not perceived as having understood the full potential of the orders at an early stage and how they should relate to their child protection procedures as an additional measure for protection.”

Victims were also thought to be afraid to give evidence against relatives.

The Government recently announced that children as young as five would be given the compulsory lessons to combat negative attitudes towards girls and women that could lead to a tendency towards violence in later life.

The government strategy highlighted that certain groups of women, particularly those from ethnic minorities, face specific forms of violence, such as forced marriages, honour-based crime and female genital mutilation.

Justice Minister Bridget Prentice said: "There is no doubt in my mind that we have provided a remedy to respond to a genuine need.

"The protection orders have demonstrated there is a need for action, but also a need for caution and understanding of their impact on a young person who might then lose their family and community, and will need long term protection and support."