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Mahmood fights forced marriages

Oct 28 2004

By Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post

Birmingham's sole Asian MP has backed moves to combat forced marriages, including the possible creation of a new criminal offence. Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr) has welcomed plans announced by Home Secretary David Blunkett yesterday for a new taskforce run by Home Office and Foreign Office officials to crack down on forced marriages. He also announced that the minimum age for bringing an intended spouse into Britain will be raised from 16 to 18. And a consultation process will be staged later this year on whether to create a specific criminal offence of forcing someone into marriage. Mr Mahmood said: "Forced marriage affects a very small number of people, but when it happens it is totally unacceptable." Story continues ADVERTISEMENT Victims of forced marriage, women's groups and charities will be asked to consider how best the law can be used to support victims. Social workers and teachers will also receive training on how to spot cases of forced marriage and what action to take. The Foreign Office has dealt with almost 1,000 cases of forced marriage since 2000. Mr Blunkett said forced marriage was an "appalling" practice and that the Government was "taking tough action" to eradicate it. "Forced marriage is simply an abuse of human rights," he said. Mr Mahmood said: "This issue affects the entire Indian sub-continent and communities with links to it. "But it's important to get the problem in the right context because it is not common". It draws a distinction between forced marriages and arranged marriages, where both partners agree to wed. Mr Blunkett said: "It is a form of domestic violence that dehumanises people by denying them their right to choose how to live their lives."

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