North West CPS chief vows to end the ‘tsunami of violence’ linked to forced marriages

Nazir Afzal, the CPS’s chief crown prosecuter in the North West, said that even though the UK has led the way in providing support for victims, thousands of men and women were still at risk of forced marriages every year.

He spoke out after a BBC Panorama survey found that many young people still thought violence was justified if it was to protect their family’s name.

Mr Afzal said: “In my view, if you feel the need to use violence, then you have no honour to protect.

“It has to be said that a forced marriage is the beginning of the suffering of the woman concerned, it is the equivalent of an earthquake followed by a tsunami of domestic violence, sexual assaults, child abuse, suicide and murder.

“The UK Government and, in particular, the CPS see this as an issue of human rights.”

Mr Afzal said the CPS’s forced marriage unit received 2,000 complaints every year in the UK and also has to rescue or repatriate more than 300 women, at risk of forced marriage in other parts of the world, each year. No figures are available for East Lancashire.

He said: “We are determined to stamp out forced marriage, to protect the rights of those affected, and to work closely with other jurisdictions and other Governments to make this practice a thing of the past.”

Anjum Anwar, chair of the Woman’s Voice group, an East Lancashire voluntary organisation providing information for women, said she was pleased the issue was being brought to light but the most important thing was to work out how the issue could be resolved.

She said: “I respect Mr Afzal’s views but legislation alone cannot help, it has to begin with education.

“Legislation can only be a safety net, it will not change cultural views.”

Ms Anwar, 56, who will be on Sky’s Ummah Channel at 8.30pm tomorrow to discuss this issue, said she believed cultural and religious organisations needed to work together with schools and colleges to find a solution.