Battle to stamp out forced marriage

By Barnie Choudhury
BBC News correspondent

The government has rejected new laws on forced marriage

A BBC investigation suggests councils are ignoring the problem of forced marriage, which continues to be a problem in the UK.

In a city in the Midlands lives Yasmin, a 19-year-old Asian woman. At 15, her parents told her she was going abroad to get married and they would not take no for an answer.

"My step-father, he beat me up so badly because he was always used to punch me. Once he punched me in the jaw and I couldn't open it for two weeks."

Yasmin tried to tell her teacher.

"My teacher just laughed it off. She didn't believe it was happening to me. The teacher, the school should have at least said something, done something.

"Or social services could've at least visited me to see if I was OK... but no-one bothered."

Yasmin's story is not that unusual. The government's Forced Marriage Unit deals with hundreds of cases every year. Many of the victims are taken abroad or are under the age of 16.

But we only know about the number of reported cases. And councils have a vital role to play in monitoring the problem.

There are guidelines... they're not compulsory and are therefore gathering dust on desks Shazia Qayum Activist

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the BBC contacted more than 120 local authorities. Almost one in four (23%) was not aware that forced marriages went on and does not collect figures.

Anne Cryer MP, a veteran campaigner and member of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "If you don't monitor, how do you know the extent of the problem?"

More than half (54%) of councils who replied had not heard of any cases, despite evidence from various organisations that there is a problem.

Now the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has issued written guidelines for local councils and schools to follow. But 55% of councils admitted they had no policy to deal with the issue.

The BBC's findings do not surprise Karma Nirvana, an Asian women's group in Derby. One of its case workers, Shazia Qayum, carried out her own research in the city.

In just three months she found 12 schoolgirls threatened with forced marriage, five of whom had disappeared - believed to have been taken abroad for marriage. Compare this with the official figure from Derby City Council - one reported case.

"How bigger is the wider picture that we don't know about?" asks Ms Qayum. "There are guidelines published by the Forced Marriage Unit which are given to schools. They're not compulsory and are therefore gathering dust on desks."

'Culturally sensitive'

A Derby City Council spokeswoman said a government consultation document had been discussed with its minority communities diversity forum.

"Forced marriages aren't acceptable but the whole issue is obviously culturally sensitive and needs to be carefully handled.

"We do work with the schools. It is certainly not something we would turn a blind eye to."

The DfES have urged schools to take action when a child disappears from school.

Ms Cryer has taken the BBC's findings to share with her colleagues on the Home Affairs Select Committee.

"I don't suggest for one minute schools should go over to Islamabad or Dhaka but certainly think they should be handing on information about girls disappearing to the appropriate authorities."