Forced Marriage (civil Protection) Act 2007

This Act received Royal Assent on 26 July 2007 and is to be brought into force by the Lord Chancellor in due course. It was introduced originally in the House of Lords by Lord Lester, a distinguished human rights lawyer, as a private member’s Bill, but was adopted by the government and passed by both Houses of Parliament without dissent. The practice of forced marriage has been a social evil for some years, particularly among families of Asian origin. It is important to draw a distinction between arranged and forced marriage. Bona fide arranged marriages are normal in the Asian communities and the Act does not seek to impugn them. There have however been many cases of young women in particular being forced to marry husbands from the Asian subcontinent whom they have never met, as a means of facilitating immigration for the men concerned. The problem has become particularly serious in northern cities with large communities of Asian origin and credit has to be given to Ann Cryer, MP for Keighley, for her campaigning on behalf of the victims of forced marriage…..