Scotland may criminalise forced marriage
5 Sep 05
Executive consults on whether to make specific offence
Forcing someone to enter into marriage could become a specific criminal offence, under a consultation launched by the Scottish Executive today in partnership with UK ministers.
Communities are being urged to talk about the hidden problem of forced marriage and consider whether legislation would be an effective way to address it.
Launching the initiative at a refuge for ethnic minority women in Glasgow, Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm was careful to stress that the Executive is not targeting the practice of arranged marriages.
"There is of course an important distinction between forced marriage and the cultural tradition of arranged marriage, where the choice of whether or not to accept the arrangement remains with individuals. In forced marriage there is no choice and victims, be they young women or men, can come from a range of backgrounds with their marriages taking place here in the UK or abroad", he commented.
"Here in Scotland, we can already take action against people involved in crimes associated with forced marriage, but we are asking whether people feel there should be a specific criminal offence. I am keen that we consider the benefits and the risks of a legislative response by hearing directly from those who have been affected by this issue."
Currently, there is no specific criminal offence relating to forced marriage within the UK and the consultation looks at the arguments for and against creating a specific offence and how legislating in this way might work.
The consultation can be accessed at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/comrace/race/forcedmarriage . The deadline for responses is 5 December.
The Executive established the Forced Marriage Network in March this year, bringing together statutory and voluntary agencies working on this issue to share expertise and knowledge, and progress work on the issue.