New UK legislation provides anonymity to victims of forced marriage

A new government measure in England and Wales will introduce legislation giving lifelong anonymity to victims of forced marriage.

The legislation is modelled off a similar measure introduced last year to victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) and will apply to victims from the time an allegation of forced marriage is made. Its effect will prohibit any publication or broadcast of names, photographs or other details likely to enable identification of victims. The scope of the measure applies to the traditional print media and extends also to publication on social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.

Forced marriage is defined as marriage where one or both spouses do not consent, and some threat of violence or coercion is involved, and has been criminalised in England and Wales since 2014, under the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.

The new legislation will also introduce an offence of breaching a forced marriage protection order (FMPO) which, in some circumstances, can prevent a person from overseas travel or compel their return to the UK. Offences under this act will attract a maximum penalty of seven years, or five years for the breach of an FMPO.

The UK’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) gave support in 1,220 cases of potential forced marriages in 2015, although it is believed that this phenomenon is more prevalent than the recorded figures suggest. Authorities hope that the new anonymity measure will encourage victims to come forward without fear of being identified.

Full text of the bill is available here, or read more in the Guardian

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