The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 (the Act) received royal assent on 26 July 2007. The aim of the Act is to provide protection to those at risk of a forced marriage and to provide recourse for those who have already been forced into marriage. The Act also sends out a strong signal that forced marriage is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Despite this change in law, it seems that forced marriages still exist in the United Kingdom.
In 2016, the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,428 cases (the highest annual figure since 2012). Of the cases that FMU provided support to:
* 371 cases (26%) involved victims below 18 years of age; and
* 497 cases (34%) involved victims aged 18-25.
* 80% involved women victims whilst 20% involved male victims
If you are a victim of a Forced Marriage, or you know someone who is being forced into marriage please contact the Forced Marriage Unit on 0207 0080151 with information such as:
* where the person has gone
* when they were due back
* when you last heard from them
The FMU will contact the relevant embassy. If they are a British national, the embassy will try to contact the person and help them return to the UK if that is what they want.
The link below provides further guidance for victims/survivors of Forced Marriages together with some very useful contact numbers for organisations who are able to help:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/149854/FM_Survivors6.pdf
If you would like to discuss how to set aside a Forced Marriage please contact our offices on 0121-702-1580