Written question asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Triesman (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 June 2006.
Forced Marriages
- Question
- Whether they intend to introduce criminal sanctions or other dissuasive measures to combat forced and child marriages.
- Answer
-
In September 2005 the joint Forced Marriage Unit of the Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) launched a consultation on whether to create a specific criminal offence of forcing someone into marriage. A summary of the responses to that consultation was published on 7 June 2006 in A Wrong Not a Right. The full text of the document can be found on the FCO website at www.fco.gov.uk/Files/KFile/05062006%20Final%20FM%20Report%20NJA.pdf. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library. Respondents feared that legislation would drive the problem further underground and increase the risk of forced marriage victims being taken overseas and held there. We have not ruled out the possibility of developing new legislation on forced marriage in the future but believe that a specific offence should be created only if there are gaps in existing legislation that cannot be filled. However, to tackle the issue more effectively, several recommendations for non-legislative activity will be taken forward. First, we will increase the level of training for professionals in this field. Secondly, we will increase the work done with statutory agencies in sharing best practice and implementing guidelines for dealing with cases of forced marriage. Thirdly, we will ensure that existing legislation is fully implemented, including making better use of civil remedies and the family courts. Many existing criminal offences may be committed during a forced marriage, such as kidnap, false imprisonment, assault, rape and, in some cases, murder. We support forced marriage victims who choose to make prosecutions and will continue to do so.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 6214; 683 c73-4WA
- Session
- 2005-06
- Related items
-
Deposited Paper DEP 06/1166
Wednesday, 21 June 2006
Deposited papers
House of Commons
House of Lords
- Subjects
- Criminal law Forced marriage
- Link
- View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2013-11-25 13:04:19 +0000
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