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Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of honour based violence due to forced marriage there were in the (a) UK and (b) devolved Administration in each of the last three years.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

The Home Office holds data on the number of police recorded forced marriage offences in England and Wales. The data are given in the table. Police recorded offences in Northern Ireland and Scotland are the responsibility of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Scottish Government respectively.

As with all police recorded crime figures, these data only cover offences that were reported to and recorded by the police. It is recognised that force marriage is a hidden crime and victims can be reluctant to bring them to the attention of police or other authorities. These data, therefore, are likely to only represent a proportion of the actual forced marriage offences committed.

The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) provides support and advice for victims, those at risk, and professionals, through its public helpline and inbox.

We are working to increase reporting of this crime which is why the FMU has an extensive outreach programme to provide dedicated training and awareness raising sessions for professionals and communities across the country, including the police and social workers. In 2023, the FMU delivered training and awareness-raising activity to 3,656 police officers, social workers and other professionals. Victims and organisations are encouraged to report potential signs of forced marriage to professionals with safeguarding responsibilities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Stewart of Dirleton on 29 March 2023 (HL6584), when the government-funded feasibility study on the prevalence of female genital mutilation and forced marriage in England and Wales will be published.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Since April 2019, the Home Office has required police forces to provide quarterly data returns on the number of offences they have recorded as being related to ‘honour’-based abuse, which includes FGM. In October 2023, the Home Office published the fourth set of these annual statistics, which included 84 offences relating to FGM covering the year to March 2023. Data on prosecutions is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

Between April 2022 and March 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recorded one offence which was charged by the police under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. This was discontinued at its first hearing due to an incorrect charge submitted by the police. Separately, in October 2023, a defendant was found guilty of aiding the female genital mutilation of a non-UK person contrary to section 3 of the Act. This defendant was originally charged in 2018.

In April 2023, the Home Office commissioned the University of Birmingham to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether it is possible to produce a robust prevalence estimate of FGM and forced marriage. This work is ongoing and decisions about next steps will be taken in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many female genital mutilation offences were recorded between April 2022 and March 2023; and of those, how many prosecutions have occurred.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Since April 2019, the Home Office has required police forces to provide quarterly data returns on the number of offences they have recorded as being related to ‘honour’-based abuse, which includes FGM. In October 2023, the Home Office published the fourth set of these annual statistics, which included 84 offences relating to FGM covering the year to March 2023. Data on prosecutions is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

Between April 2022 and March 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recorded one offence which was charged by the police under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. This was discontinued at its first hearing due to an incorrect charge submitted by the police. Separately, in October 2023, a defendant was found guilty of aiding the female genital mutilation of a non-UK person contrary to section 3 of the Act. This defendant was originally charged in 2018.

In April 2023, the Home Office commissioned the University of Birmingham to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether it is possible to produce a robust prevalence estimate of FGM and forced marriage. This work is ongoing and decisions about next steps will be taken in due course.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many professionals the Forced Marriage Unit delivered training to in 2023; and how many people took the Forced Marriage Unit’s “Awareness of Forced Marriage” free online course in 2023.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

In 2023, the Forced Marriage Unit delivered training to a total of 3657 professionals through their bespoke training and workshops.

We currently do not have the figure for how many people took the free online course in 2023 - these will be released in due course. In 2022, 5,029 people from a wide range of professions took the Government's "Awareness of Forced Marriage" free online course.

Found: Forced Marriage Unit statistics 2023

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Found: There is also existing legislative provision in Scotland against forced marriage (see section 4.7).

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Found: and it is illegal for a UK citizen to be taken overseas for have FGM performed.54Forced marriage: A forced

Found: be mindful of the intersection between different types of harm (including domestic abuse, neglect, forced