Forced Marriage

This guidance is for all practitioners (paid or unpaid) who work with children (including the unborn child), those who work with adults who are parents/carers and who therefore hold responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It is intended to be read alongside the Children and Young People (Jersey) Law 2022, the commensurate Statutory Guidance 2024 and the Jersey Children’s First Framework (JCF). Practitioners must follow the Statutory Guidance on sharing information (which follows Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018) and follow SPB Child Protection Procedures and the SPB Children and Young Person Safeguarding Referrals Procedure.

A forced marriage, is a marriage in which one or both spouses do not consent to the arrangement of the marriage but are coerced into it. Forced Marriage under duress can include physical, psychological, financial, sexual and emotional pressure. Forced Marriage is an abuse of human rights and, where a child is involved, an abuse of the rights of the child.

There is a clear difference between a forced marriage and an arranged marriage. In arranged marriages, the families of both spouses take a leading role in arranging the marriage but the choice of whether to accept the arrangement remains with the intended spouses.

Forced marriage involving anyone under the age of 18 constitutes a form of child abuse. A child who is forced into marriage is likely to suffer significant harm through physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Children are not able to consent to be in a marriage (see SPB Jersey Sexual Offences Jersey Law 2018, Children’s (Jersey) Law 2002).

Forced marriage will have a negative impact on a child’s health and development and can also result in sexual violence including rape. If a child is forced to marry, he or she may be taken abroad for an extended period which could amount to child abduction. In addition, a child in such a situation would be absent from school resulting in the loss of educational opportunities, and future employment opportunities. Even if the child is not taken abroad, they are likely to be taken out of school to ensure that they do not talk about their situation with their peers. Any child found in such circumstance is at risk of significant harm and legal advice would need to be taken on their behalf.

A forced marriage is where one or both people do not (or in cases of people with learning disabilities or reduced capacity, cannot) consent to the marriage as they are pressurised, or abuse is used, to force them to do so. It is recognised as a form of domestic or child abuse and a serious abuse of human rights.

The pressure put on people to marry against their will may be:

• Physical: for example, threats, physical violence or sexual violence;
• Emotional and psychological: for example, making someone feel like they are bringing ‘shame’ on their family;
• Financial abuse, for example taking someone’s wages, may also be a factor;
• Honour based abuse may be a feature of forced marriage.

Consequences of forced marriage include taking of dowry, forced repatriation, female genital mutilation, acid attacks, blood feuds, honour killings, abduction and homicide.

Forced marriages of children may involve non-consensual and/or under-age sex, emotional and physical abuse, and should be regarded as a child protection issue and referred to Children’s Social Care in line with BSCP procedures for responding to abuse or neglect.

See The Continuum of Children’s Needs – as guidance to help practitioners identify a child’s level of need and how to respond appropriately.  

Forced marriage increases the likelihood of domestic violence, all forms of abuse (see SPB Jersey Recognising Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation) and in particular sexual abuse. Anyone forced into marriage faces an increased risk of rape and sexual abuse as they may not consent or may not be the legal age to consent to a sexual relationship (see SPB Jersey Children and Young People’s Sexual Development, Consent and Risk). This in turn may result in unwanted pregnancies or enforced abortions.

Female Genital Mutilation may also be a factor in cases of forced marriage. (Please see SPB Jersey Female Genital Mutilation).

Circumstances can change quickly and increase the risk to the victim and any friends/family members supporting the victim - especially following a disclosure to the police. Perpetrators may respond by moving the victim or bringing forward a forced marriage.

Women, men and younger members of the family can all be involved in perpetrating the abuse. Offences that may be committed include common assault, grievous bodily harm, harassment, false imprisonment, kidnap, threats to kill and murder. There may be instances of child trafficking (See SPB Jersey Modern Slavery and Child Trafficking).

Perpetrators may take victims abroad for the purpose of forced marriage, under the pretext of a family holiday, a wedding or illness of a grandparent/family member.

The risks of emotional abuse through being stigmatised by family wider community are also present; these in turn may lead to serious consequences for the individual in terms of their mental health or self-harming behaviour.

Children are also deprived of the normal range of opportunities and experiences available to their peers when they are forced into marriage against their will.

Research tells us that children and young people with learning disability are subjected to more abuse and less likely to be protected, it is also wrongly assumed the impact of abuse is less painful because they have a learning disability. 

Research indicates that forced marriage of children (and adults) with learning disabilities is likely to be vastly under-reported and can differ from the way in which forced marriage presents generally (Buckingham Safeguarding Children Board Procedures Manual – Forced Marriage). 

Please see the table below.

There are additional factors which may make someone with a learning disability more vulnerable. Some key motives for forcing people with learning disabilities to marry include:

• Obtaining a carer for the person with a learning disability;
• Obtaining physical assistance for ageing parents;
• Obtaining financial security for the person with a learning disability;
• Believing the marriage will somehow ‘cure’ the disability;
• A belief that marriage is a ‘rite of passage’ for all young people;
• Mistrust of the ‘system,’ mistrust of external (e.g. social care/health) carers;
• A fear that younger siblings may be seen as undesirable if older sons or daughters are not already married;
• The marriage being seen as the only option or the right option (or both).

Warning signs that a child or young person may be at risk of forced marriage or may have been forced to marry may include:

• Extended absences from school/college, truancy, drop in performance, low motivation, excessive parental restriction and control of movements and history of siblings leaving education early to marry;
• A child talking about an upcoming family holiday that they are worried about, fears that they will be taken out of education and kept abroad;
• Evidence of self-harm, treatment for depression, attempted suicide, social isolation, eating disorders or substance abuse, increase in trauma informed behaviours;
• Evidence of family disputes/conflict, domestic violence/abuse;
• Unreasonable restrictions such as being kept at home by their parents (’house arrest’) or being unable to complete their education. A child conflicting with their parents;
• A child going missing/running away;
• A child always being accompanied including to school and doctors’ appointments;
• A child directly disclosing that they are worried s/he will be forced to marry;
• Contradictions in the child’s account of events;
• Evidence/risk of Honour Based Violence (HBV), or disclosure of HBV (See Honour Based Violence);
• Evidence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM);
• Evidence of a learning disability.

See also the Multi-agency Practice Guidelines: Handling cases on Forced Marriage.

Where a child (including an unborn child) or young person presents with a health or development need) or where there is a safeguarding Need (see Statutory Guidance - Levels of Need) practitioners must:

• Follow the SPB Child Protection Procedures, and the SPB Children and Young People Safeguarding Referrals Procedure, (remembering in this situation advice must be sought from Children’s Social Work/Police before contacting parents/carers).
• Refer to the Children and Families Hub;
• In parallel refer an adult or young person with their consent to supportive domestic abuse services (see supportive agencies below).
• Where a child may have been physically abused, suffered neglect or sexual abuse consideration must be given to following the Child Protection Medical Pathway and/or the Child Sexual Abuse Pathway;
• Where there is immediate risk of harm, practitioners must call the police on 999.
• Where concerns are related to an adult at risk of harm, practitioners must raise a safeguarding concern with referral to the Single Point of Referral.

Practitioners must always consider the need for immediate protection, as disclosure of the forced marriage may be the direct consequence of the impending event. Children’s Services will liaise with the Police to ensure the safety of the victim and any other family members.

A Strategy Discussion/Meeting will be called; the Police, Housing Services, Children’s Services, Health and voluntary organisations must work together to address the child or young person’s need for protection, financial support, accommodation and emotional support. Legal advice will be needed to inform the Strategy Discussion as legal action may be necessary.

Any child or young person at risk of a forced marriage must be considered as at risk of significant harm. Where the multi-agency must work together to protect.

Where required an interpreter and advocate for the child or young person, fully independent of the family should be always present.

Practitioners should work in a culturally sensitive way, the culture around justification for abuse linked to Forced Marriage is based in tradition, custom, faith, honour, religion, thoughts beliefs and values. Cultural competence does not mean ignoring or excusing practices that are against Jersey Law, or that cause or risk causing significant harm to children and young people.

Please see NSPCC briefing on Culture and Faith: learning from case reviews here. Where published case reviews highlight professionals sometimes lack the knowledge and confidence to work with families from diverse cultures and religions. A lack of understanding of the religion or cultural context of families can lead to professionals accepting lower standards for fear of being seen to practice without cultural competence.

Challenge must be made on any attempt to justify harm on cultural or religious grounds. Where it is essential practitioners remain focused on the health, development and welfare of the child or young person and that their rights and needs remain paramount.

Assessments should explore the impact of a person’s culture on their life, including spiritual practices, rites/blessings, beliefs and practices surrounding life events, dietary restrictions, personal care, daily rituals, communication social customs and attitudes to health care and support. Professionals who are unsure should seek support from their safeguarding leads. 

 Practitioners should have access to regular Internal agency safeguarding supervision. Agencies should consider multi-agency reflective supervision where cases are complex, stuck or drifting. 

Professional challenge should be welcomed and partnership working depends on resolving professional difference and conflict as soon as possible. Where staff experience professional differences, they must follow the SPB Resolving Professional Difference/Escalation Policy.

Please see NSPCC briefing on Culture and Faith: learning from case reviews here. Where published case reviews highlight professionals sometimes lack the knowledge and confidence to work with families from diverse cultures and religions. A lack of understanding of the religion or cultural context of families can lead to professionals accepting lower standards for fear of being seen to practice without cultural competence.

Challenge must be made on any attempt to justify harm on cultural or religious grounds. Where it is essential practitioners remain focused on the health, development and welfare of the child or young person and that their rights and needs remain paramount.

Cultural informed assessments help, and for example, staff who have had training can use culturally adapted assessment tools such as DASH Risk Assessment to help assess risk. Staff may otherwise wish to make referral to the Jersey Domestic Abuse Services (JDAS) where a trained practitioner can support with DASH Risk Assessment. Assessments should explore the impact of a person’s culture on their life, including spiritual practices, rites/blessings, beliefs and practices surrounding life events, dietary restrictions, personal care, daily rituals, communication social customs and attitudes to health care and support.

Allegations of plans and arrangements to force a child or young person to marry will inevitably be divisive for the family and the wider community. Attempts to discuss this with the family could potentially place a child at greater risk. In this situation practitioners should seek advice and support from their Designated Safeguarding Leads who may also wish to contact mainland organisations who may have more experience in working in this context such as Karma Nirvana. (Please see SPB Jersey Honour Based Violence).

Children may require support from workers of the same gender and if possible, the same cultural background. Where interpreters and translators are used, care must be taken to ensure that they have no connections with the immediate community of the child. As Jersey is a small jurisdiction the services of Big Word Interpreting Services may be useful.

A child arriving in Jersey for the purposes of a forced marriage or one who has recently married abroad may be extremely isolated and feel threatened and abused. The legal right to remain may be in question and the consequences of returning home may also be very serious. 
Practitioners should not:

• Underestimate the potential risk of harm;
• Speak to the child on the telephone (to ascertain if they are being held against their will) – the family may be present, or it may be a different person speaking on the telephone;
• Approach or inform the child's family, friends or members of the community that the child has sought help as this is likely to significantly increase the risk.

• Multi-Agency practice guidelines: Handling cases of forced marriage 2014 - Step-by-step advice for frontline workers. Essential reading for health practitioners, educational staff, police, children’s social care, adult social services and local authority housing;
• Forced Marriage Unit (GOV.UK) - Contact the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) if you are trying to stop a forced marriage or you need help leaving a marriage you have been forced into;
• Home Office – Information and practice guidelines for practitioners protecting, advising and supporting victims. This includes Multi-Agency Statutory Guidance for dealing with forced marriage;
• Karma Nirvana;
• Protocol on the handling of ‘so-called’ Honour Based Violence/Abuse and Forced Marriage Offences between the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Crown Prosecution Service.