United Kingdom

According to the Office for National Statistical, there are negligible (0.02) cases of Child Marriage in the United Kingdom.

In 2020, the highest prevalence of forced marriage cases were in London (24%), West Midlands (13%), North West (11%), South East (9%), Yorkshire and the Humber (9%), East (7%), East Midlands (3%), South West (2%), Wales (2%) and Scotland (2%).

The FMU’s focus countries are countries where there is a risk of forced marriage or one or both spouses are from that country. In 2020, the FMU handled cases from Pakistan (38%), Bangladesh (9%), United Kingdom (7%), India (6%), Afghanistan (4%) and Somalia (1%).

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.

Child marriage in the United Kingdom is exacerbated by:

Migration: There is evidence of child and forced marriage happening among migrant communities, including among British women and girls with a migrant background. In 2020 , the countries with the highest number of related cases handled by the Forced Marriage Unit were: Pakistan (38% ), followed by Bangladesh (9%), India (6%), Somalia (2% ) and Afghanistan (4%). Community marriages have reportedly been held in the UK in accordance with the religious laws of many South Asian, Turkish, Middle Eastern and North African cultures. There are also reports of British girls being taken to their parents’ homeland to be married off.

COVID-19: The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), which leads on the government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework, gave advice or support related to a forced marriage in 759 cases in 2020. This is a 44% decrease from 2011 - 2019 and it is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions on weddings and international travel. In 2020, 79% (603 cases) involved female victims and 21% (156cases) involved male victims. Of these victims, 15% were aged 15 years and under, 11% were between 16-17 years old and 22% were between 18-21 years old.

The United Kingdom has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The government submitted a 2019 Voluntary National Review at the High Level Political Forum. In this review, the government highlighted their international efforts to eradicate violence against women and girls, including child marriage in 15 African and Asian countries. The United Kingdom is a global leader in ending violence against women and girls, the government contributed £21 million to organisations that work to end violence against women and girls. The United Kingdom has supported nine countries (Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Uganda and Zambia) in developing action plans to end child marriage, reaching over 1.2 million girls since 2015.

In November 2021, Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality, Liz Truss, committed funds to a global campaign to bring an end to sexual violence against women and girls in conflict. This pledge included:

£18 million to the UNICEF-UNFPA Global Programme to end Child Marriage in 12 countries (Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Yemen, Zambia, Uganda, Sierra Leone).

£3 million will be used to support frontline organisations working to eradicate violence against women and girls. This funding is allocated to support policy and legislative reform as well as to provide greater access to counselling and health care, among other interventions.

£1.4 million to support survivors of sexual violence through the Global Survivors Fund.

The United Kingdom has signed the 2021 Human Rights Council resolution on Child, Early and Forced Marriage in times of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Kingdom co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: the 2013 procedural resolution on child, early and forced marriage, the 2015 resolution on child, early and forced marriage, the 2017 resolution on recognising the need to address child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian contexts, and the 2019 resolution on the consequences of child marriage. In 2014, The United Kingdom also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

The United Kingdom co-sponsored the 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

The United Kingdom ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, which sets a minimum age of marriage of 18, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1986, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2016 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the United Kingdom raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 across all devolved administrations, overseas territories and Crown dependencies. It raised concerns about the number of children exposed to harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C) and forced marriage within parts of the UK and its territories.

In 2019, the CEDAW Committee expressed concerns about the relatively high number of forced marriages in the country, despite efforts made by the Forced Marriage Unit. The Committee recommended the United Kingdom to strengthen efforts to combat forced marriages, including by sensitising parents on the need for free and full consent of their daughters to enter into marriage, and consider alleviating the costs for the repatriation of victims (in cases of child marriage performed overseas).

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) is a joint initiative of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Home Office which was set up in January 2005 to lead on the Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. The FMU is unique in that it provides support to individuals at risk and/or affected by forced marriage inside the UK, and to British nationals living overseas, through its network of embassies.

The FMU also provides a confidential helpline to those affected by forced marriage, information for professionals working with children, and support for workers in embassies abroad to protect citizens subject to forced marriage. The FMU also arranges repatriation and resettlement of those who have been forced, or are at risk of being forced, into marriage abroad.

The Unit undertakes an extensive outreach programme, with about 100 events a year being run across the country, targeting professionals and those most at risk.  In October 2015, the Unit launched a short film aimed at deterring potential forced marriage perpetrators.

In terms of international aid, the government of the United Kingdom continues to build on the success of the Girl Summit held in London in July 2014, and works nationally and internationally to support the elimination of child marriage.

A One Year On booklet was published by UNICEF and the UK government highlighting progress to date. A Girl Summit anniversary event with donor and partner governments, civil society stakeholders and youth activists was hosted by the International Development Secretary and the Canadian High Commission in London.

Girl Summits have since been held in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal and Uganda. In November 2015 the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Canada supported the African Union in hosting the first ever African Girl Summit.

From 2009-2014, the government provided an estimated £47 million funding to support global efforts for accelerating action to end child marriage, and another £39 million between 2015 to 2020 with the project Accelerating Action Against Child Marriage. Approximately £25 million of this funding went to support, from 2015 to 2019, the UNICEF-UNFPA Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, a multi-donor, multi-stakeholder programme working across 12 countries over four years.

As of 2020, the United Kingdom is also providing funding for projects addressing harmful attitudes and violence against women and girls with an explicit mention of child marriage in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Somaliland and Uganda and Somalia.

Previously, in partnership with the government of Ethiopia, the UK funded the FinoteHiwot programme, which helped at least 37,500 adolescent girls to avoid child marriage.

In March 2015 the International Development Secretary announced £8 million funding for civil society through the AmplifyChange fund. They have since adopted the Amplify Change fund 2021-2025. The fund addresses a broader range of sexual and reproductive health and gender issues that are associated with child marriage.

The legal minimum age of marriage is 18 years old in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, there is provision for marriage with parental consent between the ages of 16 and 18. In Scotland, the minimum age of marriage is 16 and marriage does not require parental consent. Some parents use these legal loopholes to force the marriages of their children who are aged 16 or 17.

In 2014, England and Wales criminalised forced marriage under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. Forcing someone, including children, into marriage is now liable to a maximum of seven years in jail. The Act also criminalises forcing a British national into marriage outside of the UK. Importantly, breaching a Forced Marriage Protection Order now carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail.

In 2008, the Forced Marriage Civil Protection Act came into force along with Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs) which intend to assist those threatened with forced marriage or by a third party on their behalf, and can be used to prevent a forced marriage taking place or to protect someone who has already been forced into marriage.