- New Enquiries
First English Forced Marriage Prosecution
22nd May 2018 saw the first successful conviction in England for forced marriage. The mother of the victim, who was 17 at the time, fooled her daughter into going to Pakistan in September 2016 to marry a man 16 years her senior.
On a trip to Pakistan, when the girl was only 13 years old she had been made pregnant by her prospective future husband, who was 29 at the time, and this was viewed by her mother as a “marriage contract”. On the girl’s return to the UK after the trip her pregnancy was terminated, she was taken into care and stayed in a children’s home.
When the girl was 17 years of age her mother promised her daughter, who was described as a troubled, vulnerable teenager with learning disabilities, a family holiday to Pakistan and an iPhone for her 18th birthday.
Once in Pakistan, the girl was told by her mother on her 18th birthday that she would marry the man, who was a family relative, by whom she had previously been made pregnant.
The girl is reported to have cried during the wedding and begged her mother not to send her home with her husband after she had been forced to sign the marriage papers.
The girl was subsequently abandoned in Pakistan by her mother, who later lied to a High Court Judge in the UK under oath about what had happened and denied her daughter was married.
The mother has been sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment, with three and a half years for the offence of forced marriage and one year for the perjury when she lied in the High Court case.
The young victim of the forced marriage is now urging “other young women at risk of forced marriage to ask for help and to say something to someone”.
In June 2014 the government created a new separate offence of Forced Marriage as well as criminalising breaches of Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs).
The offence of Forced Marriage can result in perpetrators being sentenced to up to seven years imprisonment, whilst breach of a Forced Marriage Protection Order can result in a sentence of up to five years.
If you believe you may be at risk of forced marriage, in the first instance you should contact the Police. If you do not obtain the required protection from the Police, then it is possible to apply to the Court for a Forced Marriage Protection Order.
If you or anyone you know is at risk of forced marriage, do not hesitate to contact the Domestic Violence and Abuse Department (DVAD) at Emery Johnson Astills, either by phoning 0116 255 4855, or by emailing DVAD@johnsonastills.com in order that we can provide advice to you. You may be eligible for Legal Aid, dependent upon your financial circumstances.
A specially trained member of staff in the DVAD of Emery Johnson Astills will be able to provide advice as to what measures you can take to protect yourself or the person you believe to be at risk of forced marriage.