Forced Marriage Unit 2023 Statistics

On 9 May 2024, the Forced Marriage Unit published its statistics for 2023. I have written a more detailed report, but here are the key findings and recommendations.

Key Findings:

• The FMU saw another decrease in “advice and support” cases and forced marriage enquiries.
• There is no clear pattern to calls, but spikes in March and December (and low numbers in the summer) suggest, at least, that those at risk are not making contact with the FMU before the long school holidays (usually understood to be a time of heightened risk, at least for school-age children and young people).
• The highest number of cases were in the 18-21 age bracket, revealing the need for all stakeholders to be more aware of the risks facing this age group.
• A significant number of cases handled by the FMU do not involve children, serving as a reminder that forced marriage can happen to people of all ages in the UK.
• There was another decrease in the percentage of “advice and support” cases concerning female victims, despite forced marriage being an issue which mainly affects women (and girls) across the globe.
• In the main, the FMU helps British nationals. In most cases, vfictims are also in the UK.
• In almost half of cases, the forced marriage has already happened.
• An increasing number of cases were from the West Midlands. This region, London and the North West remain the regions where victims to whose cases the FMU gave advice and support were most likely to be located. There were more cases per 100,000 people in the West Midlands than in any other region.
• An increasing number of referrals to the FMU are made from other parts of the Home Office: this was over 1/3 of all referrals in 2023.

Recommendations:

• Consistency is needed in how FMU statistics are collected, collated and presented. There should be no further changes in this for 2024 and future years.
• Consistency needs to be guaranteed between the FMU’s written report on their data, and their published data-tables. The 2023 data tables should be updated with accurate data.
• Although we should recognise that men are at risk of forced marriage as well as women, the FMU should analyse its data and connections to try and understand why the gender split of cases to which it offered advice and support was so different in 2023.
• The FMU’s statistics support some stereotypes around forced marriage (e.g. that it predominantly affects people from South Asian communities). It is important to check that the high reports of cases with a link to Pakistan, and/or from the West Midlands and North West (with large South Asian populations) are not sure to these stereotypes (meaning other cases are not being spotted, and helped).
• The FMU should engage with stakeholders and find out why there has been a drop in referrals from some, and why there has been such an increase in referrals from within other areas of the Home Office itself (especially UK Borders and Immigration). This is particularly important as service providers and other stakeholders are reporting a loss of trust in the FMU.

Full Report: