Bishop of St Albans – Forced Marriage (Written Answer)

On 12th January 2015, the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Alan Smith, received an answer to a written question from the Home Office Minister, on the subject of forced marriage.

Bishop of St AlbansThe Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect data on the number of British girls sent abroad to marry each year; and if they do not collect such data, what they are doing to assess the scale of such activity.[HL3493]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bates): The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) was established in 2005 to lead on the government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. The FMU operates both inside the UK, where support is provided to any individual, and overseas, where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals. In 2013, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1302 cases.

It should be noted that cases include people or groups of people thought to be at potential risk of future forced marriage, those currently going through a forced marriage and those who have already been forced to marry. This statistic includes all initial contacts with the FMU via the helpline or by email relating to a new case.

(via Parliament.uk)

%d bloggers like this: