Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 8 March (HL13499), what estimate they have made of the number of girls resident in the UK who were married abroad when they were underage and brought back to the UK in (1) 2014,  (2) 2015, (3) 2016, (4) 2017, (5) 2018, (6) 2019, and (7) 2020.

The UK is a world-leader in the fight to end the practice of forced marriage, with our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. The FMU provides support and advice for victims, those at risk, and professionals, through its public helpline, and delivers training and awareness raising activities to professionals and others across the country.

The Home Office does not have estimates of the number of girls who are resident in the UK who were married abroad when they were underage and who were brought back to the UK. Information on the cases of actual or potential forced marriage dealt with by the FMU, including age breakdowns, can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics. Statistics for 2020 will be added to this page later this year.