An investigation carried out by the Sunday Times has found that professionals at every level are failing to protect hundreds of children who are removed from classrooms each year and forced into illegal marriage.
According to the investigation for a decade, campaigners have fought to raise awareness of the practice, which has been illegal in England and Wales since June 2014. But the scandal of Britain’s “child brides” remains for the most part shrouded in secrecy.
The investigation also uncovered shocking cases including:
l A girl aged six with learning difficulties who was married to an older man in Pakistan before returning to school
l Girls as young as 14 becoming pregnant as a result of forced marriage
l A nine-year-old from London who has been made the subject of a court order to protect her from marriage in Afghanistan to a cousin twice her age
l Girls aged 14-17 married to older men in mosques or living rooms in Birmingham, Manchester, Luton, Nottingham and Leicester
l A girl of 11 who was forced to marry a 20-year-old man in Bangladesh and was left there with him before a court order brought her back to the UK.
Although most cases involve girls, the number of boys forced to marry is rising. In nearly a quarter of cases both parties are from the UK.
The number of calls to ChildLine about the problem rose by 30% last year. More than half of the callers were 15 or under, with some as young as nine.
