Forced Marriage is one in which one or both people do not or cannot consent to the marriage but are coerced into it by their families or community.
Sometimes, what starts out as an ‘arranged’ marriage can quickly escalate to a forced marriage. It is not uncommon for one of the participants to change their mind, even on the wedding day, only for their families to force them to go through with it.
In an arranged marriage, both participants give their full consent and enter the marriage willingly.
In a forced marriage, one or both participants enter the marriage without giving their consent. They go through with the wedding under duress from their families.
If your family is threatening you with violence if you don’t go through with a forced marriage, you should contact the police immediately.
They will be able to assess your situation, advise you, and also refer you to support organisations such as the Forced Marriage Unit. (external link)
The law
Forced marriage is illegal in the UK. Under the Forced Marriage Act 2007, you can apply to designated courts in England and Wales for a Forced Marriage Civil Protection Order. Or you can ask someone to do this on your behalf.
These orders can be used to prevent someone from being forced into a marriage or to protect someone if a forced marriage has already taken place.
Honour-based abuse
Honour-based Abuse can take many forms, including child marriage, virginity testing, enforced abortion, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, as well as physical, sexual and economic abuse and coercive control.
There is currently little accurate data on the true extent of honour-based Abuse and its impact on women and girls – its true scale, scope and prevalence is not known, and so it remains a thriving but invisible problem.
Honour-based Abuse is often thought of as a ‘cultural’, ‘traditional’ or ‘religious’ problem. It can affect people of all ages, but often begins early in the family home.
It can lead to a deeply embedded form of coercive control, built on expectations about acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. Control is often established without overt violence against the victim. For example, family members may threaten to kill themselves or ostracise the victim.
Perpetrators are often partners or ex-partners, or family members. We know, through calls to our national honour-based Abuse Helpline (external link), that most victims experience abuse from multiple perpetrators, including parents and siblings.
Facts and figures
- Victims of honour-based Abuse experience abuse for much longer than those not identified as at risk of honour-based Abuse
- Victims of honour-based Abuse are seven times more likely to experience abuse from multiple perpetrators, and are at greater risk of serious harm or homicide
- Research suggests that at least one ‘honour’ killing occurs in the UK every month (and this is likely to be an underestimate)
- We support over 2,000 victims of honour-based Abuse every year
What is ‘honour’?
For some communities, the concept of ‘honour’ is prized above the safety and wellbeing of individuals. To compromise a family’s ‘honour’ is to bring dishonour and shame – which can have severe consequences.
This is sometimes used to justify emotional abuse, physical abuse, disownment and in some cases even murder.
Definitions
There is currently no statutory definition of honour-based Abuse in England and Wales, but a common definition has been adopted across government and criminal justice agencies: ‘A crime or incident which has, or may have been, committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and / or community’.
Which communities are affected?
honour-based Abuse is more prevalent within communities from South Asia, the Middle East, and North and East Africa. Reports come from Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Orthodox Jewish and occasionally traveller communities. It is not determined by gender – both perpetrators and victims can be male or female.
Who to contact
If you have any concerns about these issues or know someone who is being exploited in this way please contact Greater Manchester Police on 999, if there is an immediate threat.
Wigan Council Duty Team 01942 828777
Support and advice can be accessed from Karma Nirvana on tel: 0800 5999 247
Karma Nirvana have further information on Forced Marriage and Honor based Violence.
Advice and support
Information is available from the government website on Forced Marriage and practitioners can contact the Forced Marriage Unit tel: 020 7008 0151