NEW DELHI: At least 100 children aged 12 or under were referred to the UK Government’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) between 2021 and 2025, including 27 children aged five or younger, according to Home Office data obtained through a Freedom of Information request. The figures have prompted warnings that children could disappear from schools after the summer holidays because of actual or potential forced marriages.
The data covers five calendar years from 2021 to 2025. It shows that at least 62 of the children referred were aged 10 or under, while 27 were aged five or below. Figures for some individual years and age groups were withheld because the numbers were between zero and five, creating a potential risk of identifying individuals.
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, who ran away from her Derby home aged 14 after facing the prospect of a forced marriage told The Independent, that the ages of the children involved as “deeply disturbing”. She warned that in some cases children may be “promised to somebody from birth”, with the marriage taking place years later.
She said children could be missing when schools reopen after the summer holidays.
“I know that when schools open in September, there will be missing children,” she said. “The opportunity to identify them was pre-school holidays. Is somebody going to ask where they are, or are they simply just going to go off the school roll? Or children will come back engaged or even married.”
Forced marriage as a safeguarding concern
Forcing someone into marriage is a criminal offence across the UK. In England and Wales, the legal age of marriage was raised from 16 to 18 in 2023.
The Forced Marriage Unit operates nationwide and receives referrals from police, social services, education staff, friends, family members, colleagues and individuals seeking help and guidance directly. The Home Office clarified that a referral means information about an actual, potential or suspected forced marriage has been provided to the unit. It does not mean that every referral results in, or will result in, a forced marriage.
Dame Jasvinder, founder of a charity supporting victims of child and forced marriage and honour-based abuse, said the actual incidence is likely to be higher because many cases never reach statutory services. She was awarded a damehood for services to victims of child, forced marriage and honour-based abuse.
She also warned that perpetrators may attempt to hide behind accusations of racism or claims about culture and religion to discourage professionals from acting.
“The tactics of perpetrators will be to use that. So they will try to put you on the back foot. ‘This is our culture. This is our religion. You’re being racist’ or whatever, to put you on the back foot, to make you look the other way,” she said.
She stressed that cultural acceptance should not prevent safeguarding action, saying: “Cultural acceptance does not mean accepting the unacceptable. This is abuse. That’s why I’ve always framed it as that, as a safeguarding concern.”
She urged teachers and other professionals to have the confidence to report concerns about children who may be at risk.
Recalling a recent visit to a sixth-form school where she spoke about her own experience, Dame Jasvinder said several boys walked out during the session, while a number of girls approached her afterwards and disclosed that they were facing forced marriages.
UK-based cases rising
The Home Office data also recorded nine referrals in 2022 involving children aged 12 or under where there was no overseas element, meaning the potential or actual forced marriage was taking place entirely within the UK. Data for other years was withheld because the figures for individual age groups were between zero and five and disclosure could risk identifying those involved.
The Home Office also declined to reveal the age of the youngest person referred to the unit during the five-year period, stating that disclosure could potentially lead to the individual being identified and could deter others from coming forward.
Separate Home Office data published in April, covering all age groups, showed a rise in cases with no overseas element. There were 58 such cases, representing 14 per cent of the total, in 2025, compared with 15 cases, or six per cent, in 2024 and 10 cases, or four per cent, in 2023. The Home Office said the figures continue to highlight that forced marriages can and do take place in the UK.
A Department for Education spokesperson said the safety of children was the department’s highest priority. The strengthened Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance provides school staff with information to identify different forms of abuse and harm, including forced marriage, and sets out how concerns about children should be addressed.
The department also said its new relationships, sex and health education curriculum, being introduced from September, will teach pupils about positive relationships, staying safe, and recognising and reporting risks and abuse, with different forms of abuse addressed sensitively and clearly at appropriate ages.
