Express & Star

One forced marriage reported every week in the West Midlands but not one person convicted

Forced marriages are being reported to West Midlands Police at a rate of one a week but there has never been a successful conviction in the region, a police boss admitted.

Published

Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe said that the calls to the force were often from concerned relatives but the crime was a 'complex' one to prosecute.

She said that victims, normally Asian women aged 18 to 24 years old, were often 'reluctant' to see their parents or family members criminalised.

  • WATCH: Police flashmob at Birmingham New Street Station as forced marriage campaign launched

"We receive on average one report a week relating to forced marriage," she told the West Midlands Strategic Policing and Crime Board.

"The majority of these come as a concern not necessarily with a report of a crime. They contact us to say they are worried for a friend, a girlfriend or themselves. We have not had a conviction. Only South Wales Police nationally has secured a conviction. Most of the victims don't wish to prosecute their parents, they just don't want to be forced into marriage.

"Our primary role therefore focuses on safeguarding and protection.

"We work with a number of different agencies to safeguard victims such as colleges, schools, and social services."

Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or both of the parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will.

It is different from an arranged marriage.

Mrs Rolfe added that in 2016 West Midlands Police took out four Forced Marriage Protection Orders which are designed to stop someone from being forced into a marriage, for example by stopping them from being taken out of the country.

She said: "We also do a lot of work with Birmingham Airport and the Airport Policing Unit on forced marriage, honour based abuse and FGM (female genital mutilation) as well.

"It is something that we are busy with but enforcement action isn't always something our victims are keen on.

"It doesn't mean we wouldn't pursue a prosecution with a reluctant victim if we thought it was the right thing to do."

She added: "There is duty on us and the Crown Prosecution Service and we would always seek to prosecute but these cases are complex and our justice system nationally is designed to deal with incident-based issues of abuse and not necessarily complex relationship issues. Quite often victims can be our based evidence or witnesses and we can't compel them to be witnesses."

In November, officers performed a flashmob dance in Grand Central railway station in Birmingham to raise awareness of forced marriage.

A video of the event has been watched nearly 400,000 times on the internet.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: "The way to tackle hidden crimes is to raise awareness and bring them out into the open. Victims need to have confidence that crimes will be investigated fully and that they will be protected."

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.