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Forced marriage labelled domestic violence

After not tackling certain abuses of human rights for the sake of "cultural sensitivity", the government's Forced Marriage Unit has reinforced the work of shelters and non-profit organisations.

With the launch of the unit in January 2005, the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have established an instrument to tackle forced marriage.

"The government takes forced marriage very seriously. It is a form of domestic violence and an abuse of human rights. It cannot be justified on any religious or cultural basis," the unit's homepage stated.

Campaigners had complained that the British government had been ignoring the problem of forced marriage for years in the name of "cultural sensitivity".

Forced Marriage Unit against abuse

The unit deals with about 300 cases of persons per year who are afraid of being forced into marriage by their families.

“Victims of forced marriage often report threat kills from their families," Lisa Bandari, head of the Forced Marriage Unit, said.

"Most of the cases we see are from Bangladeshi or Indian communities," Ms Bandari said, "but probably that reflects levels of reporting.

"We know that forced marriage is also a problem in Middle Eastern and African communities in the UK, but the problem is underreported."

 

The Forced Marriage Unit works closely with other organisations such as police, social services, other government departments aswell as women’s rights groups and voluntary organisations.

Hanna Siddiqui, a coordinator of the women's rights group Southall Black Sisters, said they were dealing with 150 victims of forced marriage a year.

"It's difficult to say how many cases there are nationwide. A lot of victims don't come forward," she said.

'You will be an outcast'

Nadia Anwer, a journalist from a Pakistani communnity in Scotland, knows about the difficulties to rebel once Asian parents have wedding plans for their daughter.

"Standing up against an arranged marriage is very difficult because you will be disowned by the family and the community.

"You will be an outcast and cut yourself off from everybody you know. There is nowhere for you to go," Ms Anwer said.

A place to go

Jasvinder Sanghera runs the shelter Karma Nirvana in Derby, the town where Rukhsana Naz had been killed for escaping from an arranged marriage in 1999.

Close to being forced into marriage herself, Mrs Sanghera had run away from her family of Indian immigrants when she was 14, she explained her engagement.

Today she tries to give other women concerned an option where to find shelter if they dare rebel against abusive practices.

Karma Nirvana is one among many British non-profit organisations as for example Asiana, Asian Family Counselling Service, The Ashram Domestic Violence Project, Southall Black Sisters, Kurdish Women against Honour Killings and others providing support, protection and shelter for victims.