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Gill Carr

Partner

The Home Secretary has recently indicated in the media that she intends to take action over forced marriages.  Charities have warned that the Home Office has failed to protect British women and teenage girls forced into abusive marriages by granting visas to husbands abroad.  The Home Secretary has referred to forced marriage as "despicable, inhumane and an uncivilised practice that has no place in this country".  The comments were made following data obtained by the Times newspaper that revealed that officials dealt with nearly 90 cases of victims trying to block visas last year, of which half were still issued.

The Home Office have also released figures that reflect that 175 enquiries were made last year by victims requesting to block spouses visas.  The victims were forced to marry men in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates.  The shadow Home Secretary has been critical of the government stating that the "government has been slow to act on preventing domestic abusers being granted visas through marriage.  That the government has no idea of the scale of the problem".

Assistance in the form of Forced Marriage Protection Orders have been in place for many years.  In the event of a breach of those protective orders a person can be imprisoned for up to five years.

At Forbes, we understand how serious the matter of forced marriages still is across the UK, and our team of expert solicitors are here to help. For further information about any aspect of forced marriage contact our Family team via email or phone 0800 689 1058. Alternatively send any question through to Forbes Solicitors via our online Contact Form.

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