A North East conference on Monday 16 March will focus attention on the issue of forced marriages in the North East, particularly those involving children.
We are hosting the conference with partners, is aimed at education professionals. It comes at a time of growing concern about forced marriages and honour-based violence in the region.
In the first nine months of 2008 the Home Office's Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) dealt with 48 cases in the North East. Officials believe the true scale of the problem will be greater because of under-reporting.
Of 1,308 cases dealt with by the FMU throughout Great Britain in the same period, 39 per cent involved minors, some as young as 11. Fifteen per cent of cases involved men and boys.
Monday's conference is the latest in a series of actions being taken in the North East to deal with forced marriages:
- extension of the Cleveland Police Choice helpline across the region to allow reporting and provide advice and support for those suffering from honour-based violence and forced marriage
- further support to victims through the establishment of a North East base for Karma Nirvana, a charity which supports victims and survivors of forced marriages and honour-related crimes
- training and awareness raising across agencies to enable professionals to identify the early signs of forced marriage and honour-based violence.
One of the speakers at the Newcastle conference will be Shazia Qayum, Karma Nirvana's Team Leader, who will give a survivor's perspective on the issue of forced marriage.
Shazia, British-born, was taken out of school at the age of 15 and kept at home for nine months before being taken to Pakistan, where she was forced to marry her cousin, under duress, before being allowed to return to England. She eventually escaped from her home and has since re-built her life.
Shazia said "When I was taken out of school I felt invisible, and I don't want anyone else to feel this way. This is why I feel it is so important for education authorities to follow up missing children. I want victims, potential victims and survivors to know that help is at hand and there's no need to suffer without support.
"The Honour Network helpline number is 0800 5 999 247".
Jasvinder Sanghera, founder and director of Karma Nirvana, will be another speaker at the conference. She said "I saw my sisters taken to India to get married but I didn't actually think it was going to happen to me. But I was shocked when one day my family produced a photograph and told me it was the man I was going to marry. So I ran away from home.
"The first place I came was Newcastle because I just wanted to get as far away as possible from my home in Derby. As a result I have built relationships with people and organisations in the North East and that is why I am setting up a branch of Karma Nirvana here."
Inspector Helen Eustace, Cleveland Police's Policy Lead for Domestic Abuse and Honour Based Violence, who led the opening and extension of the Choice helpline and will also speak at the conference said "Reports of incidents of honour-based violence and forced marriage are increasing significantly which shows that all the hard work of the statutory and voluntary organisations is starting to pay off and people are finally feeling more confident in reporting incidents to the police. We recognise that there is still a long way to go, but we are working really hard to ensure that all people whatever their ethnicity, culture or religion are allowed to make their own decisions in life and make their own choice of who they marry.
"The helpline is available 24 hours a day. 0800 5 999 365. Call in confidence. Call with confidence."
Judith Million, Home Office Deputy Regional Director at Government Office for the North East, said "Forced marriage has a serious and far-reaching impact on the lives of young men and women who are at risk. An astounding 39 per cent of the Forced Marriage Unit's care work involves minors.
"Monday's conference will raise awareness of the issue of forced marriage and how this can be tackled. I am pleased that so many education professionals have agreed to attend the conference. They are in an ideal position to recognise the risk to their pupils and students, and to help support, protect and respond to their needs".
