Domestic Violence And The Criminalization Of Forced Marriages

Domestic violence as a definition has developed significantly over time, previously this behaviour was limited to just physical violence, however the current definition has branched out to include emotional, financial, sexual and psychological abuse. The Home Office defines this as being ‘any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse.’ There is no doubt that the law has evolved over time to generate an increased awareness of domestic violence, whilst also offering a wide range of resources and protective measures for the victims. One of the main focal points stemming from the Family Law Act 1996 , is the topic of forced marriage and forced marriage protection orders. This in turn brings
They believe that criminalisation is necessary as an important signal that the law takes it seriously, but it also puts victims in a difficult position to bring forth proceedings against their families where honour is concerned. Others, such as the Home Office secretary Theresa May , focus on the advantages of criminalising the breach of an FMPO, giving reference to the FMU statistics on the decline in cases they had to deal with in recent years. Moreover Theresa goes on to discuss the criticisms in the police responses in general domestic violence situations which is a significant point to deliberate.
One of the most critical aspects from the criminalisation of forced marriages, is the lack of police support and collective effort from Frontline officials to take the matter seriously. Forced marriage is an important factor in the FLA 1996, and Frontline officials need to be up to date and readily equipped to deal with these cases. It is noteworthy to point out that the Home Office Secretary Theresa May, who was focusing on the improvements the government had taken, still managed to highlight that these officials had deficiencies in their
From 2005 a real concern over forced marriage was looked into by the government and was classified as being an abuse of human rights, which can’t be justified on cultural or religious grounds , however they did not issue an offence at this time. The Forced Marriage Act in 2007 provided a civil remedy in the form of an FMPO which attempted to prevent the perpetrator and instil a deterrence factor rather than isolate the victims altogether. Following this, recently in 2014 the breach of an FMPO was finally criminalised due to concerns that not enough was being done to tackle the problem of forced marriages. Following the consultation in 2011, 54% were in favour of the creation of a new offence, and a noteworthy 80% felt that the current civil remedies and criminal sanctions were not being used effectively . A number of academics and articles are in conjunction that criminalisation is needed to recognise and increase awareness, throughout the public and overseas. Academics such as Gilmore note that, since most European countries such as Denmark, Austria and Belgium had already criminalised forced marriages , that this takes a firm stance and raises awareness internationally on this matter. David Cameron himself was quoted as saying ‘forced marriage is abhorrent and little more than slavery. To force anyone to marry against their will is simply wrong and