Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the recording of rates of forced marriage, including at a ward level.

Forced marriage is an all too often hidden crime and we are determined to tackle it and give more victims the confidence to come forward.

The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Forced Marriage Unit leads on the government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. It operates both inside the UK (where support is provided to any individual) and overseas (where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals). The FMU publishes annual statistics of cases it has dealt with, including broken down by geographical area. The latest statistics published in 2021show the FMU provided advice and support in 337 cases of actual or potential forced marriage, with 22% of these referrals coming from the London region.

Understanding the potential relationship between deprivation and rates of forced marriage is challenging. However, as committed to in the 2021 Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, we are exploring options to better understand the prevalence of forced marriage in England and Wales.

We recognise the importance of cases being recorded accurately. That is why the Annual Data Requirement (ADR) for England and Wales now requires police forces to provide data returns to the Home Office on ‘honour’-based abuse offences, including forced marriage. The Government publishes this data annually – the most recent data was published on 9 December 2021 and can be found at the following link: Statistics on so called ‘honour-based’ abuse offences, England and Wales, 2020 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

In addition, we recently published updated multi-agency statutory guidance on forced marriage and the FMU undertakes regular outreach activities to professionals, including police officers, to raise awareness of forced marriage and how best to support victims. Through these activities, the FMU reached over 1,000 professionals in 2021.