'There is hope' indeed

After hours of research into the statistics of the number of women affected by forced marriage I was beginning to think that the Forced Marriage Act 2007 was not enough to make a difference.

In a culture surrounded by family loyalty and silence, forced marriage had become a crime that was difficult to uncover but for the women seeking help in refuges it was very real. I visited refuges full of women and teenage girls who had escaped forced marriage in order to write a series of features during the summer this year. At the time of their escape they did not have a law specifically designed to protect them despite most refuges opening and offering help in the early eighties.

To my amazement this week the UK courts have given protection to a Bangladeshi doctor who escaped a marriage she was coerced into by her parents. ‘There is hope’, are the words of Humayra Abedin, the 32-year-old doctor from East London, who has publicly escaped forced marriage and is seeking an annulment after being held for four months in Bangladesh. The media attention around this story will not only provide national coverage and understanding to the British public (which will hopefully lead to more people picking up on the issue in their communities and reporting any wrong doings) but it also shows the perpetrators that they can no longer get away with forced marriage.

The Forced Marriage Act will enable the UK courts to protect a person from being forced to enter into a marriage without their full and free consent or someone who has already been forced into a marriage.

In a press release at the time the act was out to use Justice Minister, Bridget Prentice said: “This legislation sends out a clear message that forced marriage, a breach of an individual's basic right to choose who and when they marry, is not acceptable in our society. It will enable us to make better use of civil court remedies to provide protection to those placed in this intolerable position.
“The Act is just one part of a much wider programme of work already underway to raise awareness of the problem of forced marriages and protect women's rights in this area.”

And hopefully they will and more coverage will be given to encourage victims of forced marriage to speak up.



Picture: http://scarlettcrusader.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/forced-marriage-poster.gif