My Lords, I should make it clear right from the beginning that this is a probing amendment at this stage. I seek to amend the proposed criminalisation of the offence in order that forced marriage becomes an aggravating feature that a court will be minded to consider and have to take into account.
Perhaps I may explain to the Committee my concern in relation to the current government proposals. In doing so, I immediately endorse and commend the Government for caring about this issue, for seeking to address it and for understanding the sensitivity that surrounds it in relation to all communities, because, regrettably, forced marriage happens in all communities.
Whether it involves an Irish farmer, someone in this country from a strict Christian denomination, Jewish communities or various forms of Asian communities, forced marriage happens in all our families. It is wrong and it is an infringement of human rights. I therefore do not hesitate to say that the Government are right to care about this, to work on it and to commit themselves to its eradication. All that is correct.
The question that I raise through this amendment is: is criminalisation the right course? Noble Lords will know from my noble friend Lady Thornton that we worked very hard on this matter and during that time we learnt a number of lessons. During the whole of my legal career—from 1977 to date, which is not very long—I have had the privilege of working with families in which both boys and girls have been subjected to forced marriage. During that time, my experience in the Foreign Office caused me to seek to create the Forced Marriage Unit and then to pursue the issue with vigour through each of the departments in which I was privileged to be a Minister. Lastly, as noble Lords will know, as Attorney-General I had the opportunity to assist victims of domestic violence, of which forced marriage is part. The prosecution of those who unlawfully seek to coerce others into a marriage to which they do not consent is something which all of us, no matter which party, pursued with vigour. The question for all of us is how best that should be done.
I looked with interest at the Government’s response to the consultation. I want to ask the Minister a number of questions in relation to the notice, if any, which was taken of some of the answers given—particularly in relation to Imkaan, which the noble Lord will know submitted a response from 48 organisations. I shall mention a few: Jewish Women’s Aid, Latin American Women’s Aid, Latin American Women’s Rights Service, various professors, the Newham Asian Women’s Project, Race on the Agenda, Rape Crisis (England and Wales), Respect, Rights of Women, Scottish Women’s Aid, Solace Women’s Aid, the Southall Black Sisters, Welsh Women’s Aid, Women and Girls Network, and Women’s Aid, England. These front-line organisations have been dealing with this matter for a very long time—indeed, as far back as I can remember.
To the Government’s question:
“Do you believe that the current civil remedies and criminal sanctions are being used … effectively?”,
those organisations answered no. In answer to the question:
“Do you think a criminal offence should be created for the act of forcing someone to marry against their will?”,
the answer was no. In answer to the question:
“What issues should be considered to ensure that a new offence does not deter people from reporting the crime?”,
the answer was:
“The creation of a specific offence on forced marriage would in itself create a significant barrier to reporting. As highlighted earlier, women and girls will not always prioritise prosecution. Women and girls want the choice to reconcile, where appropriate, with family members and often prefer to access support services before making any other decision”.
In answer to the question:
“Do you think there should be an offence of luring someone abroad”,
the answer was no. In answer to the question:
“Do you think that the creation of a new criminal offence would make the law clearer?”,
the answer was no. Then, in answer to the question:
“Do you think the creation of a new criminal offence would make it easier for professionals to tackle the problem?”,
once again, the answer was no. That made me pause because here were the most significant front-line services in our country, which have been dealing with these issues for many years, saying no.
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I then looked at the other indications that we have had, and there is a concern. I shall explain why that is. At the moment we have a plethora of criminal offences. Just as with domestic violence, forced marriage comes in many forms and will be used and perpetrated by a number of individuals in different ways. You may have cases that involve the victim of a forced marriage being subjected to common assault, actual body harm or Section 18 or Section 20 grievous bodily harm. You may have cases that involve false imprisonment, attempts to murder or threats to kill. Each of those offences carries a different penalty. False imprisonment, rape and conspiracy to rape all carry life imprisonment, not seven years’ imprisonment.
Therefore, I ask the Minister how this particular offence will be prosecuted. How will we differentiate between this offence and cases where someone may have been kidnapped or falsely imprisoned, for which the punishment could potentially be up to life imprisonment? How will prosecutors and others implementing this new offence differentiate between those more serious offences and the offence of forced marriage, where the activity used to try to coerce or oblige the individual to enter into a marriage will be one of those offences? I am concerned that we might downgrade the offence if it involves a forced marriage. The effect would be that if you kidnap someone simpliciter, you may be subject to a potential penalty of life imprisonment, but if you kidnap someone for the purpose of forcing them into a marriage and you are then prosecuted for the offence of so doing, under this legislation you will be subject to the lesser penalty. I am very concerned about what we may be saying to the public if we do that.