Ending Forced Marriage: Key recommendations from the Universal Truth Roundtable
On 11 June 2024 Universal Truth Founder and CEO, Nyla Khan, hosted a pivotal Roundtable at the Scottish Parliament to discuss strategies for ending forced marriage. This event marked a significant milestone in our mission to combat forced marriage and honour-based violence among ethnic minority women.
A gathering of influential voices
The Roundtable brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), and senior civil service leaders.
The discussions highlighted the urgent need to address forced marriage and honour-based violence, issues that are often overlooked in policy discussions.
Key focus areas
During the discussion, we focused on several key areas:
Identifying legal gaps: We highlighted deficiencies in Scotland's legal framework regarding domestic abuse, honour-based violence, and forced marriage.
Addressing accountability: We presented our recommendations to improve accountability mechanisms within existing structures.
Exploring racial anxiety: We examined how racial anxiety affects interventions and convictions related to gender-based violence and forced marriage.
Discussing integration: We considered solutions for embedding race anxiety awareness into best practices and training for professionals across various sectors, including police, government, education, and healthcare.
Promoting diversity: We deliberated on strategies to enhance diversity in policymaking to better address the unique challenges faced by ethnic minority communities.
Recommendations
We have compiled these insights and recommendations into a comprehensive paper, which is available for download here. In summary, the recommendations include:
1. Overcoming community pressure and social control: Public awareness around forced marriages needs to be accelerated. Implementing coercive control laws that extend to groups will help individuals come forward and seek help while punishing the perpetrators.
2. Strengthening the Forced Marriage etc. (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Act (2011): Bringing this Act under the Domestic Violence Act will make explicit public authority obligations to act when any adult, regardless of capacity, experiencing forced marriage contacts them for support.
3. Addressing Racial Anxiety: Training around racial anxiety for a range of professionals, including teachers, social workers, third sector organisations, police officers, legal professionals, and health practitioners, is essential. Ensure appropriate staff attend, and that the learning is cascaded and applied.
Acknowledgements
We extend our thanks to Pam Gosal MSP for sponsoring this Roundtable and to The Robertson Trust for their generous donation.
This Roundtable represents a milestone in our ongoing efforts to ensure safety and justice for ethnic minority women. We remain committed to driving meaningful change and fostering a society where no woman is forced into marriage or subjected to honour-based violence.
To get in touch email nyla@universal-truth.co.uk