FORCED MARRIAGE

That this House supports the work of the newly-formed charity Freedom Community Organisation (Freedom) which has been set up to highlight the plight of many thousands of young British Asians, male and female, who are forced into marriage against their will and often under threat of violence if they do not comply, and to end the horror of so-called honour killings which claim the lives of many young British Asians every year in this country; recommends use of the term dishonour killings rather than honour killings in order to convey the true horror of these dreadful acts; abhors the practice of forced marriages and supports Freedom's call to strengthen the laws to protect and support those being coerced into marriage against their will or who have been forced into such a marriage and for the prosecution of all those engaged in such coercion, making it a criminal offence to use intimidation of any kind to force someone into marriage; condemns forced marriages of gay men to women, an area of growing concern and which has led to an increasing number of cases handled by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Forced Marriage Unit; calls on forced marriages to be annulled if it can be proved that either or both parties were coerced by threats or other psychological means; further calls for greater border controls to stop young people, often schoolchildren, being sent abroad for weddings against their will; and further calls on the Government to make the effective tackling of this issue a priority.