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Home Department

Forced Marriage Guidelines

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Alan Campbell): Today the Forced Marriage Unit (a joint Home Office/Foreign and Commonwealth Office unit) launches revised forced marriage multi-agency practice guidelines intended for all front-line practitioners (such as teachers, police officers, social and health care professionals, housing officers) to help them to work more closely together to better identify and protect children and adults at risk of forced marriage. These practice guidelines have been designed to provide step-by-step advice to front-line workers and have been produced to complement the statutory guidance, which came into force with the launch of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act in November 2008, which sets out the broader strategic responsibilities of chief executives and senior managers in tackling forced marriage locally.

These new guidelines are available from the House Library, can be accessed on the Forced Marriage Unit’s website, www.fco.gov.uk/forcedmarriage, or hard copies can be obtained directly from the Unit at the following address:

Forced Marriage Unit

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Room G58

Old Admiralty Building

London SW1A 2PA

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