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Irish Wedding News

21/10/2015

Govt Releases Video Showing Impact Of Forced Marriage

The UK's Forced Marriage Unit has released a new film highlighting the devastating impact of forced marriage on victims and their families.

The video has been released to coincide with the October half-term break, as the school holidays are viewed as a high risk period.

The aim of the film is to raise public awareness of the impact of forced marriage, and to warn of the criminal consequences of involvement. The campaign builds on the work of the FMU to date.

Told from the perspective of a victim's older brother, who is complicit in arranging her forced marriage but unaware of its true impact until it is too late, the film represents the first time the FMU have directly targeted family members.

Its release also follows the launch of a new free online training tool designed to help professionals recognise the warning signs of forced marriage and take the right action at the right time to help protect vulnerable children, young people, or adults at risk of forced marriage.

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Foreign Office Minister Grant Shapps said: "Forced marriage has no place in the UK. This film demonstrates the full horror of its impact, and our determination to stamp out this brutal practice once and for all – defending victims through full use of the law where necessary.

"We are proud of the work of the FMU and the strong message we send to anyone forcing someone to marry against their will. There is a lot more work to be done, but we are determined to continue working with communities and organisations across the UK both to protect and support victims, but also to punish offenders."

Karen Bradley, Minister for Preventing Abuse and Exploitation, added: "Forced marriage is a brutal practice and the UK is a world-leader in the fight to stop it. We made forced marriage a criminal offence to protect victims and be absolutely clear that these acts will not be tolerated. Our Forced Marriage Unit does brilliant work, helping those at risk and leading the efforts to combat forced marriage both at home and abroad.

"But we know that legislation alone is not enough. We also need to work in other ways to prevent these dreadful cases from occurring and offer support to those who fear they may be forced into a life they do not want. I welcome this new video which will help raise awareness, send a strong message to perpetrators that forced marriage is a crime, and signpost the most vulnerable to support."

In 2014, the Forced Marriage Unit – which is run jointly by the FCO and Home Office – provided advice and support in 1,267 cases of possible forced marriages in more than 88 different countries. More than a fifth of these involved male victims.

The video can be viewed via the gov.uk website here.

(JP/MH)

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"The UK's Forced Marriage Unit has released a new film highlighting the devastating impact of forced marriage on victims and their families."