Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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people being forced into abusive marriages. 8 We welcome the UK Government’s continued
commitment to fighting forced marriage, and we recognise that the UK is clearly a leader in
the international arena on the prevention and eradication of forced marriage. The Government
announced a series of measures in June 2012 to strengthen current responses, including a
separate criminal offence on forced marriage, and £500,000 over the next three years 9 most
of which was earmarked for prevention work, rather than to support victims. Whilst we welcome
the announcement we have some major concerns about the Government’s primary focus
on a criminal justice solution. For example, there may be unintended consequences that may
undermine its effectiveness and a number of forced marriage specialists have for many years
expressed doubts about the merits of a specific criminal offence, due to the specific nature
of forced marriage, which tends to involve young women being coerced by their families. In
particular, there are concerns around less victims coming forward through fear of repercussions
and due to the fact they do not want to criminalise their parents and other relatives. We agree
that inadequacies in the system must be addressed; this should include an appropriate and
sensitive police response, support and protection for victims through the civil and criminal justice
system and funding for vital support and refuge services, in addition to a criminal offence. The
Government has also committed to making breach of a Forced Marriage Civil Protection Order a
criminal offence, which is welcomed. (See Appendix: 29 for further information)
Recommendations:
• Include forced marriage in schools citizenship programmes for 15/16 year olds to
know about the Act and the support available
• Establish additional counselling and other support services for victims of forced
marriage
Supporting forced marriage initiatives overseas
Despite UK Government initiatives to tackle and prevent forced marriage, women still face
barriers to this being recognised as grounds for international protection in the UK. 10 While
in principle we support the funding of awareness raising activities and refuges abroad we
understand that the Committee monitors the UK Government on the implementation of the
rights of CEDAW within the UK, as opposed to overseas.
Corporal punishment of children at home 11
The legality and practice of corporal punishment of children breaches their fundamental rights
to respect their human dignity and physical integrity, to equality under the law and to protection
from all forms of violence. There are strong links between corporal punishment of children and
all other forms of violence, including gender-based violence. (See General Recommendation
19) As the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) emphasised in its General Comment
No. 8, addressing corporal punishment is “a key strategy for reducing and preventing all forms
of violence in societies”. 12 However, parents and those in loco parentis, including those working
8. Ryan, F. (2012) ‘Forced marriage blights the lives of scores of learning disabled people’, The Guardian, 13th July 2012 http://www.guardian.
co.uk/society/2012/jul/31/forced-marriage-blights-learning-disabled
9. The Government has committed to provide £500,000 over three years towards helping schools and other agencies to spot the early signs
of a forced marriage.
10. Dauvergne, C. and Millbank, J. (2010) Forced Marriage as Harm in Domestic and International Law. The Modern Law Review. 73 (1), 57-88.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2230.2009.00784.x/abstract
11. For more information see: Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children (2012) Briefing on the United Kingdom and its Crown
Dependencies and Overseas Territories for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Presessional Working
Group – October 2012 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/ngos/GIBriefingForPSWG54thSession_UK.pdf
12. General Comment No. 8 (2006) on “The right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of
punishment” is available at www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/comments.htm
Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013 163