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Purna Sen: Forced marriage needs to be thought of in terms of human rights

According to Purna Sen, a UK-based expert in violence against women who took part in the Parliamentary Assembly hearing on forced and child marriages on 18 October in Antwerp, ’’the awareness of forced marriage and the need to deal with this issue is growing slowly across Europe’’. She says that the issue needs to be thought of ’’in terms of human rights, as the right to marry in the context of free and full consent is clearly and repeatedly asserted in the international human rights framework’’.

Question : How widespread is the problem of "forced marriage"?

Purna Sen : We do not know exactly the extent of forced marriage, as such marriages are not registered or easy to investigate. Only a small percentage of the total ever comes to public attention.

Where some specific work has been done that takes up such cases we have figures/reports/, but these do not represent the total sum. For example, in the UK we know that the Community Liaison Unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office deals with approximately 200 cases each year; a single women's group (Southall Black Sisters) deals with the same number. It has been estimated by Reunite (an organisation that deals with this issue) that there are up to 1000 cases each year in the UK.

Question : What is being done to fight the problem?

Purna Sen : The awareness of forced marriage and the need to deal with this issue is growing slowly across Europe. This change has been led mainly by pressure from women's groups that have had to deal with cases of which they have been made aware. The strategies with which to tackle the practice of conducting marriages without the full and free consent of both parties are still being developed and are varied.

The UK probably has the most developed approach in Europe - with a Government Joint Action Plan, the Community Liaison Unit at the FCO, various NGOs working on this issue, and practice guidelines now in place for the Police and Social Services. Videos for use in schools and colleges have been prepared by government and information leaflets have been produced and distributed across the country.

Question : What else do you think could be done?

Purna Sen : I suggest that this issue needs to be thought of in terms of human rights, as the right to marry in the context of free and full consent is clearly and repeatedly asserted in the international human rights framework. The infringement of this right must be taken seriously by all states. People from a variety of cultures, contexts and religions practice such marriages, including of children.

In a context of rising Islamophobia it is important not to isolate only Islamic groups for attention, but to recognise the existence of similar traditions in a variety of groups. Also important is the fact that there are many voices within groups/cultures that practice forced marriage, which contest these traditions. Alliances with and support of such individuals and groups will only strengthen internal dynamics for change and the bigger project of ending of forced marriages.