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• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 5/25/2009 8:10 PM UTC

  Landmark case on forced marriage: mother jailed
  

  A mother has been sentenced, in what has been called a 'landmark case', for three years for forcing her two teenage daughters to marry their first cousins in Pakistan in July 2007.

  The mother duped the children, aged 14 and 15, into thinking they were visiting Pakistan on a holiday. However, when they arrived they discovered that their marriage preparations were underway for a joint ceremony. Returning to the UK in September 2007, the girls confided in their teachers in February 2008 who immediately informed the police. The 39 year old mother was arrested.
  
  The mother was charged and convicted for inciting or causing a child to engage in sexual activity, arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, and intending to pervert the course of justice. She pleaded not guilty.
  
  The Judge - now this is important - said:
  
  

  Everyone is entitled to his or her beliefs and is to be encouraged to practise in accordance with those beliefs and to live a life which embraces the culture of those beliefs.
  

  But those who choose to live in this country and who, like you, are British subjects, must not abandon our laws in the practice of those beliefs and that culture.
  

  If they do, they will face the consequences.
  

  Forced marriage is cruel. It deprives children, your children, of their basic human rights.
  

  It must be and will be distinguished by the courts from arranged marriage, which is conventional in many cultures, and in which these basic rights are preserved.
  
  

  The court heard that the mother acted to 'defend' the honour of the family's reputation in the Muslim and Pakistani communities, as her eldest daughter supposedly had an affair with an older man, got pregnant and then had an abortion. When the same daughter got married, the mother told her that if she did not consummate the marriage, she would 'tie her to the bed, blindfold her and strip her', and then watch to make sure her daughter had sex with her new husband.
  
  The Judge added:
  
  

  You probably thought then and you continue to think now that even forced marriage was in the best interests of your daughters - one of whom in any case was a handful and who was not toeing the traditional line. That is a wholly misguided view.
  

  
  And:
  
  

  I am bound to send, in the clearest possible terms, a strong message to the public that the forcing of a child into marriage against his or her will, will not be tolerated in our courts and that appropriate punishment will follow.
  

  Where a forced marriage leading to consummation is accompanied by threats of violence and is tantamount to cruelty, the punishment will be more severe.
  

  
  Currently, there are no specific criminal laws against individuals who force another to marry. At the moment, action is taken by the police against individuals who commit crimes of assault, kidnap, abduction or sexual offence when forcing someone to marry.
  
  The police, friend or victim can apply for a Forced Marriage Protection Order under the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, which forbids family members taking anyone abroad for marriage or intimidating victims to get married. The Act stipulates in Schedule 1, part 2:
  
  

  Any person who, without reasonable excuse, contravenes a forced marriage protection order, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction--
  
  

  (a) to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale;
  (b) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months; or
  (c) to both.
  

  
  There were plans in 2004 to make forced marriages a criminal offence in itself were dropped by ministers for fear of a backlash, admitting that the any such law would be 'resented as an intrusion into minority cultures and religions'.
  
  The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), an umbrella organisation often claiming to represent Muslims in Britain, opposed plans to create new laws specifically targeting forced marriages, because new laws would be seen as targeting minority ethnic and religious communities, leading to, for example, Muslim communities being further 'stigmatised', and citing current laws as adequate. In its 2005 response to the government's Forced Marriage Unit consultation paper, FORCED MARRIAGE - A Wrong not a Right (2005), the MCB wrote:
  
  

  Any law in this regard which is promoted as a tool to help the victims and deter the offenders is most unlikely to be effective because of the nature of the problem and the cultural as well as familial sensitivities involved. A coercive tool in a family and cultural setting is rarely, if ever successful.
  

  
  

  The family bond and loyalty will deter many from using the law. The tool when used will in effect tear the family unit and create division and distress.
  

  
  

  The MCB believes that the only way to eradicate this criminal cultural practice is through education and empowerment. The change has to be community led and appropriately resourced.
  

  
  The MCB did, however, say that 'a "forced marriage" has no religious, moral or legal validity.'
  
  For a mother of two to be convicted and imprisoned for three years sends the message that forcing people to marry without their consent, and at such a young age, should not and will not be tolerated in Britain's liberal society and culture. That is why this case is so important in setting precedence in case law.
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