Dozens of forced marriages in region

MORE THAN 130 possible cases of forced marriage in Yorkshire were dealt with by a Government unit last year, new figures have revealed.

Details were released yesterday of the work done by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), which deals with cases where one or both parties do not consent to be wed and some form of coercion is involved.

It provided support to 1,428 cases nationally last year, but said yesterday: “Forced marriage is a hidden crime, and these figures may not reflect the full scale of the abuse”.

The national total is 14 per cent higher than in 2015, and the highest since 2012, a trend the unit says may be linked to the training and awareness events it has been holding. Yorkshire and the Humber’s total of 131 is nine per cent of the total and less than half of the number in London.

In its annual report, the FMU said no major faith in the UK advocates forced marriage, and that “freely given consent is a prerequisite of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh marriages”.

It added: “The majority of calls about cases (almost 80 per cent) come from professionals as well as other third parties (e.g. nongovernmental organisations, colleagues, friends, or family).

“The fact self-reports represent a smaller proportion of calls may reflect the hidden nature of forced marriage and that victims may fear reprisals from their family if they come forward.”

Of the cases where the FMU provided support, 80 per cent involved female victims, and 26 per cent involved victims under the age of 18.

Many cases involved one of the victims being threatened with being taken to another country. The countries most frequently involved were Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Somalia, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.