Statistics on U.K.’s Forced Marriages only “Tip of the Iceberg”

Back in my bachelor days, I thought ALL marriages were “forced.” But, then I met Mrs. Bulldog… (WLOS)

Judge warns on Britain’s forced marriage toll

24 Jan 08 – Telegraph.co.uk

Official statistics on forced marriage reflect only the “tip of the iceberg” of a much larger problem in Britain, a district judge has warned.

Judge Marilyn Mornington called for a campaign to raise awareness of forced marriage in the media and schools, in the hope of changing attitudes in communities of Asian origin and encouraging victims to come forward.

She said the Foreign Office’s Forced Marriage Unit had told her that, on top of about 500 cases it deals with each year, it receives a further 1,000 calls relating to individuals.

She also suggested there were many more cases that did not come to the unit’s attention. One women’s organisation in Derby was receiving 300 calls a month, she said.

Judge Mornington, who gave evidence on the issue to the Commons home affairs committee on Monday, deals with family cases in the county courts of South Yorkshire.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “We have to remember that, even with these distressing figures, the vast majority of the Asian population and the other groups that practise forced marriage feel equally abhorrent as we do towards these practices.

“But it is a very difficult area that we need to tackle…I think we have to have a multi-faceted approach, as has worked with domestic violence in the last 10 years.”

Muslim women will be enlisted in the fight against extremism to persuade their sons and husbands not to take part in terror attacks, the Government has said.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears is writing to all local authorities demanding they do more to encourage Muslim women to pay a bigger role in society.

She wants them to invite women of all ages from the Muslim community to take part in education and training, while encouraging them to talk their male relatives out of talking part in violent extremism.

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