Victims of forced marriage given greater protection (From Chorley Citizen)

Victims of forced marriage given greater protection

2:22pm Thursday 2nd July 2009 in

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New guidlines hav been issued to help victims of forced marriage in Lancashire.

Lancashire police usually receive between four and 10 enquiries per month from victims or friends of potential victims concerned about forced marriage. However, in the past six months the number has dramatically increased and in one month recently 33 cases were dealt with.

New national guidelines have been launched this to help police and other frontline workers work more closely together to protect children and adults at risk of forced marriage.

Police in Lancashire work closely with professionals such as healthcare staff, the Lancashire Domestic Violence Partnership, Social Services and teachers for a number of years to ensure victims of forced marriage receive the best possible help from all agencies.

Lancashire Constabulary currently has specialist teams dealing with the issue of forced marriage in every division in the county as well as outreach workers out in the community. Anecdotally, the outreach workers will deal with five enquiries a week from people wanting to receive advice about Forced Marriage or Honour Based Violence.

In February this year, the force successfully applied for the first ever Forced Marriage Protection Order in Lancashire to safeguard a 22-year-old East Lancashire woman.

Detective Chief Inspector Justin Srivastava, Deputy Head of Public Protection for Lancashire Constabulary said: "During the past six months we have witnessed a significant increase in the number of people contacting us about forced marriages which suggests that victims feel more confident in reporting their situation to police and believe that they will be offered support and advice.

"It is absolutely critical we work together in partnership to ensure all victims of forced marriage receive sympathetic, effective and joined up support."