Girls as young as 13 contacting Childline about forced marriage

Wednesday, 2 August 2017 07:00

Girls as young as 13 have been contacting Childline about being forced into marriage.

They have conducted 205 counselling sessions on the issue in 2016/17 – a 12 per cent increase from 2015/16. There were 6,099 visits to the Childline forced marriage page in the same year.

Children told counsellors they were frightened of being taken out of the country for marriage and reported emotional abuse by their parents about the issue.

In 2016/17 the NSPCC’s Helpline made 48 referrals, almost exactly the same from 2015/16, where it made 50.

The NSPCC is revealing the figures as the UK’s school summer holiday begins, a time when some families can exploit the long break to take children overseas and force them to marry.

In some instances, children may have been told that they are going on a normal holiday and do not realise that they are heading to their wedding day with a complete stranger. Once they are abroad they may find themselves isolated and find it difficult to raise the alarm and halt the marriage.

NSPCC Chief Executive Peter Wanless said: “No child should be forced into marriage and we must be clear that, regardless of cultural expectations, this is a crime and an abuse of human rights. Forcing a child to marry shows a complete lack of regard for their feelings, thoughts or ambitions.

“We understand some may worry about betraying their family but we would urge anyone – including potential victims – to speak up before it is too late. Help us break the cycle and speak up, so that we can step in and stop a child being bound into something that they would never ask for.”

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