The UK is a world leader in the fight to stamp out the harmful practice of forced marriage. The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) has been working to combat forced marriage since 2005. The Forced Marriage Unit provides support to victims, those at risk of forced marriage, and advice to professionals through its public helpline and inbox. The support offered ranges from providing information and guidance, to consular assistance for victims who are British national and habitual residents overseas.

The FMU works in an advisory capacity and therefore does not hold information on referrals of victims to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). First Responders, such as Local Authorities, the police, Border Force, UKVI, and Immigration Enforcement, and specific NGOs, are responsible for identifying indicators of modern slavery and referring potential victims into the NRM for their cases to be considered by the appropriate Competent Authority.

The Home Office also funds Karma Nirvana to operate the national ‘Honour’-Based Abuse (HBA) Helpline. This service aims, through the provision of a telephone line and e-mail service to support victims and survivors of HBA including forced marriage.

The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) lead efforts to combat forced marriage both at home and abroad, providing support and advice for victims, those at risk, and professionals, through its public helpline and inbox. The support offered ranges from providing information on forced marriage general enquiries and guidance to assistance in repatriation to the UK (for victims overseas).

The FMU publishes annual statistics that represent only the cases that have been reported to the FMU. Forced marriage is a hidden crime, so these figures will not reflect the full scale of the abuse. For this reason, the FMU is also involved in activities to raise awareness of forced marriage among key professions.

Data for the years 2019 – 2023, regarding FMU cases, is as follows:

• 2023: the FMU received 802 contacts relating to possible forced marriage or FGM (FMU can assist in relation to Forced Marriage and FGM where they impact British Nationals). This figure includes general enquiries and comprises 280 cases of forced marriage where advice and support were provided.
• 2022: the FMU received 847 contacts (including general enquiries) and provided advice and support in 302 cases.
• 2021: the FMU received 1,205 contacts (including general enquiries) and gave advice and support in 337 cases.
• 2020: the FMU received 1,159 contacts (including general enquiries) and provided advice and support in 759 cases.
• 2019: Reporting in this year did not distinguish between general enquiries and cases where advice and support were provided. A total of 1,355 cases were recorded.

A more detailed breakdown of these statistics is available for the years 2019 – 2023 and is accessible to the public via GOV.uk.

In 2023, the Forced Marriage Unit delivered training to a total of 3657 professionals through their bespoke training and workshops.

We currently do not have the figure for how many people took the free online course in 2023 - these will be released in due course. In 2022, 5,029 people from a wide range of professions took the Government's "Awareness of Forced Marriage" free online course.

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) is jointly funded by the Home Office and FCDO. It currently has six full time staff, two joint heads (one from each department) and four case workers. The Unit's operating costs including staff time, outreach activity and casework are funded through the departmental budgets of its parent organisations.

The FMU publishes annual statistics, including on the total number of cases per year, online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics

The Government is committed to tackling forced marriage in all its forms.

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) is jointly managed by the Home Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The FMU has assisted thousands of forced marriage victims and delivered training to over 5,000 professionals in the last three years. There are currently no plans for an audit of FMU, but its performance and value for money is kept under regular review.

The FMU has robust processes and procedures in place to ensure information given to victims and the professionals who support them is accurate. No complaints from victims have been received in the past four years for which records are available. All cases reported to the FMU are recorded on a dedicated casework database.

FMU caseworkers check the full circumstances of each case before giving advice. The FMU has no record of providing inaccurate information or advice to a victim or suspected victim of forced marriage.

The Government is committed to tackling forced marriage in all its forms.

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) is jointly managed by the Home Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The FMU has assisted thousands of forced marriage victims and delivered training to over 5,000 professionals in the last three years. There are currently no plans for an audit of FMU, but its performance and value for money is kept under regular review.

The FMU has robust processes and procedures in place to ensure information given to victims and the professionals who support them is accurate. No complaints from victims have been received in the past four years for which records are available. All cases reported to the FMU are recorded on a dedicated casework database.

FMU caseworkers check the full circumstances of each case before giving advice. The FMU has no record of providing inaccurate information or advice to a victim or suspected victim of forced marriage.

The Government is committed to tackling forced marriage. On 27 February 2023, we brought into force legislation which raised the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales to 18, and expanded the offence of forced marriage so it is illegal to do anything to cause a child to marry before they turn 18, even if coercion is not used.

The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) has been actively raising awareness of the new forced marriage legislation in all its presentations and across its social media platforms since January 2023.

The FMU runs regular workshops and presentations for police officers, social workers, local authorities, registrars and others. In 2022, the FMU delivered training to 1,537 professionals and the unit has reached over 3,000 professionals by the end of September 2023. This includes bespoke training sessions on request to police forces. Over 650 police officers have been given this training since the legislation changed in February 2023. The Home Office also worked with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on HBA to ensure that forces were prepared for the commencement of the legislation. This included a joint national meeting with relevant force leads and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) before the legislation came into force.

While the Home Office does not directly hold data on safeguarding measures introduced by police forces to help ensure that suspected child marriage cases are managed adequately, we do work closely with the dedicated NPCC lead for Honour Based Abuse to ensure forces have the support they need. In addition, the College of Policing published authorised professional practice guidance for officers on ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) which has been updated together with domestic abuse training and the Police Education Qualifications Framework to incorporate material about the new legislation.

Whilst there have not been dedicated meetings on this subject with Home Office Ministers and the DHSC and DfE Secretaries of State, Ministers do meet regularly to discuss matters of crime and safeguarding, with a dedicated VAWG Ministerial Steering Group taking place later this month.

The FMU is jointly funded by the Home Office and FCDO. It currently has six full time staff, two joint heads (one from each department) and four case workers. The Unit’s operating costs including staff time, outreach activity and casework are funded through the departmental budgets of its parent organisations.

Statistics on prosecutions and convictions for the new offence of arranging for a child to marry as part of the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act 2022 are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and are not currently available as the offence only came into force in February 2023. Statistics on the offence will be available in future publications of MoJ’s Criminal Justice System Statistics. The Government does not hold data on arrests or investigations for the offence. The FMU publishes annual statistics, including on the total number of cases per year, online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics.

The Government is committed to tackling forced marriage. On 27 February 2023, we brought into force legislation which raised the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales to 18, and expanded the offence of forced marriage so it is illegal to do anything to cause a child to marry before they turn 18, even if coercion is not used.

The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) has been actively raising awareness of the new forced marriage legislation in all its presentations and across its social media platforms since January 2023.

The FMU runs regular workshops and presentations for police officers, social workers, local authorities, registrars and others. In 2022, the FMU delivered training to 1,537 professionals and the unit has reached over 3,000 professionals by the end of September 2023. This includes bespoke training sessions on request to police forces. Over 650 police officers have been given this training since the legislation changed in February 2023. The Home Office also worked with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on HBA to ensure that forces were prepared for the commencement of the legislation. This included a joint national meeting with relevant force leads and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) before the legislation came into force.

While the Home Office does not directly hold data on safeguarding measures introduced by police forces to help ensure that suspected child marriage cases are managed adequately, we do work closely with the dedicated NPCC lead for Honour Based Abuse to ensure forces have the support they need. In addition, the College of Policing published authorised professional practice guidance for officers on ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) which has been updated together with domestic abuse training and the Police Education Qualifications Framework to incorporate material about the new legislation.

Whilst there have not been dedicated meetings on this subject with Home Office Ministers and the DHSC and DfE Secretaries of State, Ministers do meet regularly to discuss matters of crime and safeguarding, with a dedicated VAWG Ministerial Steering Group taking place later this month.

The FMU is jointly funded by the Home Office and FCDO. It currently has six full time staff, two joint heads (one from each department) and four case workers. The Unit’s operating costs including staff time, outreach activity and casework are funded through the departmental budgets of its parent organisations.

Statistics on prosecutions and convictions for the new offence of arranging for a child to marry as part of the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act 2022 are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and are not currently available as the offence only came into force in February 2023. Statistics on the offence will be available in future publications of MoJ’s Criminal Justice System Statistics. The Government does not hold data on arrests or investigations for the offence. The FMU publishes annual statistics, including on the total number of cases per year, online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics.

The Government’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) supports British nationals (including dual nationals) overseas who are at risk of or who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM).

The FMU’s published annual statistics, which provide information on the numbers of victims and potential victims (generally of forced marriage) for whom it has provided support, have since 2020 included figures on the numbers of victims and potential victims of FGM for whom support has been provided. The figures for 2021 showed that, out of the 337 victims and potential victims for whom support was provided, three were victims or potential victims of both forced marriage and FGM, and 18 were victims or potential victims solely of FGM. The statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics. Statistics for 2022 will be published in the coming months.

The department is working closely with the Ministry of Justice, as sponsor department for the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022. We are also working with the joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) to ensure schools and children’s social care providers are made aware of the change in the law.

Keeping children safe in education statutory guidance sets out the role all school staff play in safeguarding children, including information for staff on what forced marriage is, as well as signposting to further help from the government’s FMU.

On 28 April 2022, the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 received Royal Assent and will come into force on 27 February 2023.

We are working with all relevant government departments and bodies impacted by the Act to ensure that appropriate guidance is in place for all relevant practitioners ahead of implementation.

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) changed its recording practices in 2021 to better reflect the nature of incoming referrals. Full details are available in https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/forced-marriage-unit-statistics-2021. FMU statistics are not an indication of the prevalence of forced marriage, but a reflection of the number and nature of referrals received by the FMU through its public helpline or mail enquiry service.

Statistics on the number of cases dealt with by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), including a breakdown by region and age, are published annually and are available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics. Statistics for 2020 will be added to this page as soon as data assurance processes are complete.

Statistics on the number of cases dealt with by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), including a breakdown by region and age, are published annually and available online at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage

Figures for 2018 were published on 24 May. In 2018, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,764 cases via its public helpline and email inbox.

The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) which leads efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK.

The joint Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Home Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) operates a public helpline to provide advice and support to victims, those at risk, and professionals. Statistics on the number of cases dealt with by the FMU, including a breakdown by region and age, are published annually and available online at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage

Figures for 2018 will be published soon.

The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) which leads efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK.

The FMU publishes statistics annually. The most recent statistics, published on 8 March 2017, show that the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,428 cases. A breakdown shows that the FMU gave advice and support to 220 people between the ages of 1-15 and 151 people aged 16-17.

Statistics for 2017 will be published in due course.

​The Forced Marriage Unit supports victims in the UK, and through our network of Embassies and High Commissions, British victims overseas. Since 2005, the Forced Marriage Unit has supported cases linked to over 90 countries. Forced Marriage Unit records the focus country as where marriage is due to take place regardless of where the victim is at the time of first contact.

Between 2010-16 Forced Marriage Unit handled 9,618 cases linked to over 85 countries. During this period the top five overseas focus countries were Pakistan 4,714 (49 per cent of cases), Bangladesh 884 (9.2 per cent), India 736 (7.7 per cent), Afghanistan 212 (2.2 per cent) and Somalia 181 (1.9 per cent). There were 1049 cases (10.9 per cent) where there was no overseas element, for example the risk was in the UK. In 772 cases (8 per cent) the focus country was unknown.

For financial year 2011/12, the Forced Marriage Unit – jointly run between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office – was attributed a total of £543,036 for staffing and project funding. This amounted to £599,262 in 2012/13; £573,323 in 2013/14; £552,535 in 2014/15; £549,726 in 2015/16; £426,030 in 2016/17; and £447,078 by the end of this financial year. Over this period we have cut costs through efficiencies and by centralising the administrative function of the Forced Marriage Unit, but the numbers of caseworkers has not changed.

In 2016 the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) helpline received approximately 3,500 calls, which translates to 1,428 cases. FMU records the focus country as where marriage is due to take place regardless of where the victim is at the time of first contact. In 2016, in 90% of cases the ceremony did or was due to take place overseas. In the rest of the cases received the risk was in the UK.

The NSPCC run and fund a 24 hour national helpline for female genital mutilation. As the helpline is not funded by the Home Office we do not hold this data.