Forced Marriage

Mrs Cooper, Designated Safeguarding Lead - ccooper@chessington.kingston.sch.uk

When the families plan the marriage but the people getting married do not agree to the marriage and are forced to go through with it. Even if just one of the two people getting married does not agree to the marriage, it is a forced marriage.

Forcing a person into a marriage is a crime in England and Wales. A forced marriage is one entered into without the full and free consent of one or both parties and where violence, threats or any other form of coercion is used to cause a person to enter into a marriage. Threats can be physical or emotional and psychological. A lack of full and free consent can be where a person does not consent or where they cannot consent (if they have learning disabilities, for example).

Please read the HM Government booklet below, The Right to Choose. This details what services and organisations can do to help people at risk of forced marriage. Find out more information from their website, here.

If you need to contact the Forced Marriage unit urgently phone the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on 020 7008 5000.  In an emergency, always call the Police on 999.