I do but I don’t : the effectiveness of the Forced Marriage (civil protection) Act 2007 and other legislation against forced marriage at preventing child marriage in the UK

Abstract

This thesis assesses the effectiveness of the current system against forced marriage at protecting against child marriage in the UK. It considers the work of the Forced Marriage Unit, both inside and outside the UK, in preventing forced marriage and supporting victims. It then goes on to examine how the system could be improved, both within the current framework, and through more wide-reaching change. This was done in order to investigate the gaps between the legislation and the actual protection of children from marriage, as there is no law specifically on child marriage in the UK, leaving the possibility of children being married, both in forced and non-forced ceremonies, though only one of these is warded against. The thesis will consider legislation from 2007 onwards, as well as very recent developments from up to July 2021. This will be done through analysing relevant legislation, both on the minimum age of marriage and on forced marriage, assessing those and relevant developments against international standards, via qualitative research methods, in order to discern how well this legislation guards against the specific issue of child marriage.