Forced marriage cases keep rising as Ministers bid to make it illegal

The Home Office said the full scale of the problem was not known, but published the estimates as it considers making forced marriage a criminal offence.

David Cameron has already announced that the Government will criminalise the breach of Forced Marriage Civil Protection Orders, but the consultation asks for views on whether forcing someone to marry should be made an offence in its own right. Some 339 orders have been recorded since the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 came into force in November 2008, but breaching an order is not a criminal offence.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: “Shockingly thousands of people a year are forced into marriage against their will. It is an appalling form of abuse and perceived cultural sensitivities should not stop us doing more to tackle it.

“We want to hear from victims and those who work in this field before we come to a decision on the best way to protect vulnerable people.

“But we are determined, working closely with charities and other organisations doing a tremendous amount in this area, to make forced marriage a thing of the past.”

The consultation document was published by the Home Office, which said in a statement: “While the full scale of the problem is not known, reported cases are rising year on year.”

The Government’s forced marriage unit provided advice or support in 1,618 cases in 2008, compared with 1,682 in 2009 and 1,735 last year, the figures showed.

They included cases from Afghanistan, North and East Africa, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Turkey.