Forced Marriage: A Violation of Human Rights

Part – 7

By  Munazza Abbasi LL.B  (Hons )

Obstacles to Effective Redress

Nullity

In a forced marriage case, the oral evidence court at proceedings could add to the victims’ already existing traumatised situation. Coming face to face with family members during proceedings could be an unpleasant and dangerous situation for the victim, thus driving family relations further underground. The declaration of a marriage being voidable, is alone not plainly an adequate remedy, as it could carry irreparable and severe emotional and physical pressure on the victim.

Abduction/ Wardship

There is no criminal prosecution for those responsible for the abduction of forced marriage abroad. Therefore, as the act is committed abroad, there is only a limit to the extent at which the UK can intervene. Although, they can intervene to ensure the victim’s safe return to the UK, the issue of prosecuting those responsible is not resolved. Even though there have been cases where adults have been protected from forced marriages, the issue of wardship only offers support to very young victims, as adults cannot be made a ward of court. Therefore, the support offered to adults being involuntarily coerced into union is very limited and is not resolved through these processes.

Domestic Violence

In relation to the amount of civil and criminal remedies offered to victims, it can be suggested that these mechanisms offer extended support to victims of such abuses. However, the balancing of these remedies with the amount of forced marriage cases every year, demonstrates that these mechanisms are not sufficiently effective in dealing with the issue of forced marriages, and therefore, a new tool is required to plug the gaps that exist that have remained unsolved for many years. As Moran, ex Labour MP for South Luton said: “We are having the same debate about this that we used to have about the wider issue of domestic violence 20 years ago.” At that time people were saying “it’s just domestic,” as they are now saying “it’s just cultural.” Moran insists “no it is not. It can be kidnap, it can be rape. It is crime.” The solution may therefore lie in criminalising the practice. The above are all solutions in tackling the problem of forced marriage. However, they are not sufficient enough to dissolve the problem and supplementary efforts need to be carried out in order for the courts to exercise every power in their jurisdiction to abolish the practice. It is suggested, therefore, that the courts need more weapons to exercise in its protective arsenal for an increased effective upshot in the cases of forced marriage.