Forced Marriage
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2026, to question 116395 on Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage, whether male victims of forced marriage are included within the scope of the national prevalence estimate.
Answered by Jess Phillips
Published in December 2025, “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls” committed to conducting an additional study to explore the viability of the approach recommended by the University of Birmingham in producing a national prevalence estimate for forced marriage and FGM.
The government is clear that whilst forced marriage disproportionately impacts women and girls, it also impacts men and boys. Whilst the study is still ongoing, any national prevalence estimate for forced marriage would include male victims.
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