Forced Marriage

(asked on 20th January 2015) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 9 January (HL3493), how many of the 1,302 cases identified for advice or support in 2013 were about British girls sent abroad to marry in that year.


Answered by
Lord Bates Portrait
Lord Bates
This question was answered on 4th February 2015

The number of reported cases to the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) each year does not reflect the full scale of the abuse, as many more cases go unreported. 82% of the reported number of 2013 cases involved female victims. The FMU operates across the whole of the UK, where support is provided to any individual of any nationality. It also operates overseas where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals.

The data held by the FMU cannot specifically be broken down to identify cases for advice or support relating to British girls sent abroad. To provide more detailed information on the figures for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, would involve a disproportionate cost. We also have no plans to publish figures in this format in future years.

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