Forced Marriage conference raises awareness
24th November 2009
On Monday 23rd November, more than 250 representatives of the legal professions, police, social care services, health, education and voluntary organisations came together in Bradford to examine the impact of the Forced Marriage Act which took effect a year ago.
The Act – its full title is the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 – came into force on 25th November 2008. The Act aims to protect individuals against being forced into marriage without their consent, and also to protect individuals who have already been forced to enter marriage.
Speakers addressing the conference - jointly organised by Zenith Chambers, the Leeds-based barristers, and Switalskis Solicitors LLP, included:
- Jasvinder Sanghera – renowned campaigner on forced marriages and so-called “honour” based violence – founder of charity Karma Nirvana, founder of the Honour Network project, and author of “Shame” and “Daughters of Shame”.
- Louise McCallum, family law barrister from Zenith Chambers and Razia Jogi, family lawyer at Switalskis Solicitors, Bradford - co-authors of the definitive practitioners’ guide to the forced marriage legislation .
- Nik Peasgood, Director of HALT (Help, Advice and the Law Team) the Leeds-based Independent Domestic Violence Advocates.
- Ulfat Riaz of research and training organisation Anissa UK,
- Suzelle Dickson, joint head of the Forced Marriage Unit, a joint initiative run by the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Razia Jogi, who chaired the Forced Marriage Conference on 23rd November
The conference attracted much media attention, with Razia Jogi of Switalskis, who chaired the conference, giving interviews to both BBC Radio Leeds and Sunrise Radio, the Asian community radio station.
BBC Look North also filmed at the event, and interviewed Jasvinder Sanghera as part of a feature on forced marriage in West Yorkshire.
One of the primary aims of the conference was to raise awareness of the legislation and the issues it was designed to tackle. Razia Jogi said: “The conference considered the dynamics behind forced marriage. We hope the conference provided delegates with practical guidance about using the Act and encouraged renewed efforts to protect the vulnerable groups for whom it was designed”.
Razia Jogi was interviewed in the Yorkshire Post recently, where she commented on the low numbers of Forced Marriage Protection Orders issued in West Yorkshire since the legislation came into force last November. Read the article here.
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