Johanna Westeson - The ICHRP

concern that such legislation could drive forced marriage underground and prevent victims
from seeking help, and so far no criminalization has been instated. 372
Instead, forced marriage has been subject to civil legislation. The Forced Marriage (Civil
Protection) Act 2007 373 introduces 19 new sections into the Family Law Act 1996.
According to the Forced Marriage Act, British courts have the power to issue Forced
Marriage Protection Orders. The purpose of these is both to protect a person from being
forced into marriage, and to protect persons who already have been forced into marriage
(Article 63A). The orders can contain “prohibitions, restrictions or requirements” or “other
terms” that the court considers necessary in the individual case to prevent the forced
marriage from taking place, or to protect a victim of a forced marriage from its effects
(Article 63B). They can include, inter alia, orders to prevent a forced marriage from
occurring, order to hand over passports, to stop intimidation and violence, and to stop a
person from being taken abroad. 374
The terms may relate to conduct both within the UK and outside the UK. They can relate
both to the person about to be forcefully married and to anybody aiding, abetting, or
encouraging the forced marriage. Force is to be understood not only when there are threats
of violence to the victim, but also when threats are made of violence against other parties,
such as against the victim’s family, or self-violence, such as when the perpetrator threatens
to commit suicide if the marriage does not occur. 375 The courts can attach powers of arrest
to the orders, so that a person who breaches the order can be arrested.
It is not clear from the wording of the Act, nor from its explanatory notes, what effect a
Forced Marriage Protection Order will have if issued after a forced marriage already has
taken place. According to official information, an order can be made “to protect someone
who has already been forced into marriage, to help remove them from the situation,” but it
is unclear if this will lead to the nullification of the marriage, or only to the physical
separation of the person in need of protection from her alleged spouse or family. 376
The Act has been criticized for its focus on legal measures rather than on more long-term
preventative social measures. 377 Another, more general, criticism implies that honor-related
crimes in the UK tend to be treated as different by nature from other violence against
women, instead of being perceived as part of the same problem. 378 This distinction may
result in further stigmatization of immigrant communities and insufficient legal and social
response to the victims of violence.
372 UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office FCO, The Right to Choose: Multi-agency statutory guidance for
dealingn with forced marriage, November 2007, p. 5, available at
http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/3849543/forced-marriage-right-to-choose. Last visited on 12 May
2010.
373 Enacted 26 July 2007. The Act applies to England, Wales, and Nothern Ireland, but not to Scotland.
374 Information from Her Majesty’s Court Service, available at http://www.hmcourtsservice.gov.uk/cms/14490.htm.
Last visited on 12 May 2010.
375 Explanatory notes to the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill, prepared by the Ministry of Justice, June
2007, available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmbills/129/en/2007129en.pdf. Last
visited on 12 May 2010.
376 Ibid.
377 See, for instance, Aisha Gill, “Honor Killings and the Quest for Justice in Black and Minority Ethnic
Communities in the United Kingdom”, Criminal Justice Policy Review Online First, January 2009, p. 16.
378 Ibid, p. 7, pp. 9-10, etc. See for a more thorough discussion on this topic Chapter 5E: Honor crimes.
123