At least 100 forced marriage cases involving children aged 12 or under were flagged to the Home Office in five years, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act. The data includes 27 children up to the age of five and 62 aged 10 or below.
Campaigner calls figures 'deeply disturbing'
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, who ran away from her home aged 14 when faced with the prospect of a forced marriage, branded the data "deeply disturbing". She warned: "I know that when schools open in September, there will be missing children. The opportunity to identify them was pre-school holidays."
She added: "Is somebody going to ask where they are, or are they simply just going to go off school roll? Or children will come back engaged or even married."
Referrals cover 2021 to 2025
The figures, showing referrals to the forced marriage unit (FMU), were obtained by the Press Association and cover the years from 2021 to 2025. The Home Office said a referral means some details have been provided in an actual, potential or suspected forced marriage, so not every referral means a forced marriage has or will take place.
Forcing someone to marry is a criminal offence across the UK, and in 2023 the legal age of marriage was raised from 16 to 18 in England and Wales.
Perpetrators 'use racism accusations'
Dame Jasvinder warned of perpetrators hiding behind accusations of racism, stating: "The tactics of perpetrators will be to use that. So they will try to put you on the back foot. `This is our culture. This is our religion. You're being racist' or whatever, to put you on the back foot, to make you look the other way."
She added: "I do feel that it still does exist in terms of professionals having the confidence [to report such safeguarding concerns]." She said: "Cultural acceptance does not mean accepting the unacceptable. This is abuse. That's why I've always framed it as that, as a safeguarding concern."
She revealed that when she spoke about her own experience at a sixth form school recently, some boys walked out while a number of girls approached her afterwards to say they were facing forced marriages. The figures show that in 2022 there were nine referrals addressing potential or actual forced marriage taking place entirely within the UK.
Government response
A Department for Education spokesperson said: "There is nothing more important than the safety of our children. Our strengthened keeping children safe in education guidance provides staff with robust information to help identify different types of abuse and harm - including abusive behaviour such as forced marriage - and clearly sets out what all school staff should know and do, and how to respond to any concerns about a child."
The spokesperson added: "Our new RSHE (relationships, sex and health education) curriculum will also teach pupils from this September about positive relationships, staying safe, recognising and reporting risks and abuse - with different forms of abuse addressed sensitively and clearly at appropriate ages."
The Home Office has said forced marriage is not a problem specific to one country, religion or culture, adding: "There is no archetypal victim or perpetrator, and no two cases are the same."
