SL placed sixth for forced marriages in UK

17 June 2015 06:50 am - 8 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Sri Lankans are among the top 10 immigrant families to Britain who are being forced into marriage, a study revealed.

Quoting the study, NDTV reported that Sri Lankans were placed sixth, behind Indians and Pakistanis in the UK who were forced into marriage, a crime in the country.

Forced marriage had been criminalised under British law exactly one year ago today and the UK's Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) said it had handled cases involving a range of different countries including Pakistan (38.3 per cent), India (7.8 per cent), Bangladesh (7.1 per cent), Afghanistan (3 per cent), Somalia (1.6 per cent), Sri Lanka (1.1 per cent), Turkey (1.1 per cent), Iran (1 per cent) and Iraq (0.7 per cent).

"We made forced marriage a crime to better protect victims and send a clear message that this brutal practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK. We also hope that criminalisation will act as a deterrent," said Karen Bradley, UK minister for preventing abuse and exploitation.

"The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp this out, with our Forced Marriage Unit leading efforts to combat the practice both at home and abroad," she said.

Forcing someone to marry against their will is punishable by a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment.

"Forced marriage is different from arranged marriage. In an arranged marriage, although the families may take a leading role in arranging the marriage, the choice of whether or not to accept the arrangement remains with the prospective spouses. It is this choice which makes an arranged marriage different from a forced marriage," the FMU said.

The law is designed to help people in Britain as well as UK nationals overseas against the devastating effects of forced marriage such as physical, psychological, emotional, financial and sexual abuse including being held unlawfully captive, assaulted and raped.

The first conviction under the new legislation took place earlier this month when a 34-year-old businessman from Wales raped and imprisoned a woman, before forcing her to marry.
The cross-government FMU provided advice or support in 1,267 cases last year.

More than one in 10 cases involved victims aged under the age of 16 and nearly a fifth of cases where age was known involved victims aged between 18 and 21.

Research by Department for Children, Schools and Families in 2009 estimated that a national prevalence of reported cases of forced marriage in England was between 5,000 and 8,000.

The criminal offence works alongside Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs), which provide a specific civil remedy to prevent forced marriage and assist victims where a marriage has already taken place.

The breach of an FMPO was made a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

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Comments - 8

Rohan Wednesday, 17 June 2015 01:16 PM

2500 year old culture in action. :-)

sam1 Wednesday, 17 June 2015 01:31 PM

UK has to look for themselves for divorced marriages

lipwe Wednesday, 17 June 2015 02:04 PM

What this has to do with Buddhist culture. By going through the countries in the list , this is very much a Muslim and Hindu problem. Most of the Sri Lankan in Britain are not Buddhist

Sam Wednesday, 17 June 2015 02:26 PM

Yes, in U.K the Tamil migrants population is more than that of Sinhala migrants population.

Donkeys Wednesday, 17 June 2015 03:12 PM

We have to be COMMUNELL even in some statistics analysis. God save this people(modas)

Nishantha Wednesday, 17 June 2015 05:08 PM

Rohan,It looks you have no idea of 2500 year old culture. In Buddhist culture nothing by force. That is why people of your type are there.

josh Wednesday, 17 June 2015 06:02 PM

all you people some how try to make everything a racial issue neda... pathetic!

Shamma06 Wednesday, 17 June 2015 07:49 PM

Lol they should come to Sri Lanka and see how many are forced into marrying :P

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SL placed sixth for forced marriages in UK

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