Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
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.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
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.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
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.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the sanctioning of Mian Abdul Haq as a human rights violator on 9 December 2022, what assessment they have made of whether that sanctioning has been successful in preventing the forced conversion and abduction of women and girls from minority communities, and what further representations they have made to the government of Pakistan in this regard.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls in Pakistan. Designating Mian Abdul Haq sent a clear message to those responsible that the UK considers this behaviour unacceptable. We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), women and girls' rights and gender equality at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan. Through our Aawaz programme, we continue to tackle issues of gender-based violence and work directly with communities to raise their awareness of the harms of early and forced marriages.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has taken steps with international partners to address the incidence of forced marriage of young girls and women from religious minorities in Ethiopia; and whether he has had recent discussions with his Ethiopian counterpart on this issue.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to stepping up our international leadership on child marriage, to give girls a greater say over their bodies and futures. We are a champion of the UN Global Programme to End Child Marriage and we have supported over 140,000 adolescent girls in Ethiopia with interventions to prevent and respond to child marriage.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking with international partners to address the incidence of abduction, forced conversion, and forced marriage of young girls and women from religious minorities in Pakistan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to urge the government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in Pakistan, particularly marginalised groups including women, minorities and children, as laid down in the Constitution of Pakistan and in accordance with international standards. Protecting the rights of women and girls is central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. UK programme funds are helping to address gender-based violence by raising awareness of early and forced marriages, tackling online hate speech, and making digital spaces safer for women. The British High Commission in Islamabad will continue to support civil society and NGOs in lobbying the Government of Pakistan to honour its international commitments.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the prevalence of arranged marriages in the UK.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Government has not made a recent assessment on the prevalence of arranged marriages in the UK.
In an arranged marriage the families take a leading role in choosing the marriage partner, but the marriage is entered into freely by both parties.
This is in contrast to a forced marriage, where one or both people do not or cannot consent to the marriage and pressure or abuse is used to force them into the marriage.
It is also a forced marriage when anything is done to make someone marry before they turn 18, even if there is no pressure or abuse.
More information on forced marriage can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people participated in the free e-learning course created by his Department's FGM team in the last 12 months.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Our most recent statistics show that in 2022, 51,299 individuals have accessed our free e-learning training on FGM.
Alongside the free e-learning for frontline staff, the Home Office has issued a diverse range of materials aimed at professionals to improve their understanding and response to FGM, which includes statutory multi-agency guidance. The training helps professionals to recognise the warning signs of forced marriage and ensure that the right action is taken to help protect those at risk.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how (a) much funding and (b) many full-time equivalent staff have been allocated to the Forced Marriage Unit in each financial year since its foundation; and how many cases have been reported to that unit in each of those years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) is jointly funded by the Home Office and FCDO. It currently has six full time staff, two joint heads (one from each department) and four case workers. The Unit's operating costs including staff time, outreach activity and casework are funded through the departmental budgets of its parent organisations.
The FMU publishes annual statistics, including on the total number of cases per year, online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics