More needs to be done to make this a thing of past. Almost 600 people have come forward in the past five months to raise the alarm over fears that they are about to be forced to marry against their will.
Mr Cameron and Theresa May, the Home Secretary, announced today that forced marriage is a crime, after rejecting claims that banning the practice would simply drive it underground.
The strongest sanctions available at the moment are “Forced Marriage Orders”, a form of civil court order which operate like a restraining order against the girl’s family but do not carry criminal punishments for those who breach them.
Which is nothing really right. To be honest, I think it's generally not taken as seriously as it should be as it's seen as 'cultural practice' -but it isn't at all. I mean nobody should have to go through that.
IT IS A CRIME!!!
After visiting the cross-departmental Forced Marriage Unit, Mr Cameron said: "It is necessary to make this a crime because it is an absolutely abhorrent practice. It is, frankly, little short of slavery.
"You are taking 15, 16-year-old British citizens, taking them off to another country against their will, marrying them with someone against their will. That is a crime and it should be a crime.
"For too long in this country we have thought 'well, it's a cultural practice and we just have to run with it'. We don't. It's a crime.
"Listen to the stories of these women and what they've been through and how painful and difficult it was to be rescued and you know this should be a crime and treated as such by this country." He added: "I think there should be tough punishments.
"Think what we are considering here: this is a 15-year-old girl, whipped out of school, flown to the other side of the world, introduced to the person they are going to be forced into marrying and their whole life being ruined.
"That's what we are talking about and as far as I'm concerned if you commit that sort of offence you get a very, very tough punishment." [The Independent]
It is a step closer to making forced marriages a thing of the past, however, more will need to be done. The thing with this however, is that there is a risk that it will deter victims from coming forward.
The new law will distinguish between forced marriages, where there is no consent, and arranged marriages where "both parties have consented to the union but can still refuse to marry if they choose to".
- Every year hundreds of young people are at risk of being taken abroad by their parents and forced to marry against their will.
- The majority of cases involve families from South Asia, particularly Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
Much love,
Anokhi
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