FORCED MARRIAGE COULD BECOME ILLEGAL

The government is planning to make it illegal for an individual to force a person to marry against their will.

In his speech, David Cameron also announced that he plans to make it a criminal offence to breach orders imposed by the courts to prevent forced marriages to take place.

Earlier this year, the Home Office rejected the proposal for fears that injured parties and potential victims may be discouraged from coming forward.

Forced Marriage Protection Orders were introduced in 2008 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Under these rules, a victim, friend or police can apply for an order targeted at protecting an individual through courts.

Anyone found guilty of breaching this order can be jailed for up to two years for contempt of court, classified under a civil offence.

However, David Cameron wants this changed and plans for the proposals to be re-examined to focus on those trying to coerce someone into marriage.

In his speech, the Prime Minister said, “Forced marriage is little more than slavery.

“To force someone into marriage is completely wrong and I strongly believe this is a problem we should not shy away from addressing.”

According to the BBC Ethics Guide, nearly 40% of cases dealt with by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) concerned people under the age of 18 and in 85% of all cases, women and girls were the victims.

However, despite the 1700 incidents being reported last year, the unit believes that many more cases exist, but victims have remained silent.

The Government says that pressurising someone to marry in order to gain a family advantage or to protect a ‘family’s honour’ is a breach of human rights.

In July 2010, Home Office dismissed the idea of bringing in new laws concerning forced marriage, as it would be hard to prove and could have a negative effect on victims.

Mr Cameron will ask Home Secretary Theresa May to consult support groups for assistance in criminalising forced marriages, in order to make sure that such a move will give victims more confidence in coming forward.

Charities that give support to those in the grip forced marriages have help lines that concerned individuals can telephone.

One such charity is Karma Nirvana, which was founded by activist Jasvinder Sanghera, whose biographies ‘Shame’ and ‘Daughters of Shame’ became bestsellers in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

On the charity website, she says, “In these situations our families put us in the place of feeling we have shamed them, I say it is them who should be ashamed as My Honour is Their Shame”

Other activists and organisations have also spoken out against forced marriages.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against women said in report, “A woman’s right to choose a spouse and enter freely into marriage is central to her life and dignity, and equality as a human being.”

However, some members of the public worry about whether these proposals would work.

A user who calls himself Gulaman said, “Most of these girls are not forced to go to their parents’ countries at gunpoint; rather they are coerced by emotional blackmail and heavy pressure from family members. In such cases it’s hard for the government to clamp down on these practices unless the victims come forward themselves.

Another user, Tony Shepherd said, “I think there has been a fear about cultural sensitivities – that people might brand it racist or not sufficiently Multicultural. Excuses that such a law is ‘hard to prove’ or that victims might not come forward are but weasel words to disguise the truth.”

Mr Cameron also announced tougher visa rule to prevent bogus marriages, in which illegal immigrants marry in order to gain access to developed countries.

The prime minister said that relatives would need to speak English or have enough money to survive before joining their families in the UK and they will need to pay financial bonds.

The government hopes that these rules will prevent immigrants from becoming a burden on tax payers.