This summer over 350 young people will be forced to marry someone against their will and as a result may not return to their classrooms next academic year.  

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), a joint-initiative between the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Home Office, is the Government’s specialist ‘one-stop shop’ for forced marriage. It provides support to victims of forced marriage as well as expert training and guidance to professionals working with victims or potential victims.  

We recall that ‘marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses’ (Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, Article 16(2)). Heightened media sensitivity surrounding the practice of forced marriage helped to lead to the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, implemented in autumn 2008, incorporating the Act into a new Part 4A of the Family Law Act 1996.  

The Direct Approach network, a partnership between Edinburgh police and organizations representing ethnic minority women, released a report on October 13^th, 2010 indicating that the number of forced marriages taking place in the city is much higher than the number reported.

Upon surveying 40 women from minority communities, half said they know of or are victims themselves of forced marriages. With only an average of seven cases reported annually, it is clear that there are many hidden victims.