SCHOOLS are being urged to be vigilant about potential cases of forced marriage as the summer holidays approach.
New Government guidelines were issued to teachers, doctors and police to help identify and tackle the problem.
Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant insisted every school should be looking at the issue as he acknowledged some may have been “uncertain” about cultural sensitivities. The summer break is a peak time for incidents of young people, usually girls, being taken to south Asia, in particular, and forced by their families to marry.
Latest figures from the Government’s Forced Marriage Unit suggest that 70% of cases involved families of Pakistani origin and 11% of a Bangladeshi background.
Asked whether schools were turning a blind eye to the problem, he said: “I’m not sure that’s true. But I would say to every school that they should be looking at this.”
But there is concern that many of the youngsters affected are frightened to come forward and make their plight known.
