BBC Asian Network: Jeremy Browne on the rise of forced marriage cases for men
Foreign Minister, Jeremy Browne was interviewed by BBC Asian Network. He spoke about the dramatic rise in forced marriage cases for men.
Rozina Sini: Now it鈥檚 something we鈥檝e heard a lot about on Asian Network, it can end in murder, it can devastate lives. It鈥檚 people being forced to marry when they don鈥檛 want to. It mainly affects women. Now the Government鈥檚 shining a light on the men who are victims. It鈥檚 worried that reports of male victims are up sixty five per cent. Here鈥檚 our politics reporter Adam Pasternicki.
Adam Pasternicki (AP): 皇冠体育appre鈥檚 in surge in numbers and it鈥檚 got the Government worried. Two years ago there were just over a hundred and thirty male cases for the whole year, now the Government鈥檚 totted up the figures for 2010, getting up to ninety. And that鈥檚 just to the end of May. Anup Manota works with victims, one boy as young as fourteen.
Anup Manota - Works with Victims of Forced Marriage (AM): He thought he was at a little party, once he was seventeen he had to go back there. He was actually drugged, taken abroad and he was shackled as well. So they can go to all lengths, abusive as well.
AP: Now the Government wants teachers and social workers to look out for this more. It reckons people associate forced marriage with teenage girls because six out of seven cases affect females and they can miss it when it happens to boys. Anup says there鈥檚 another problem too. Lads find it less easy to talk about this than girls.
AM: 皇冠体育appy say we can鈥檛 speak to our friends, 鈥榗ause they鈥檒l just probably mock them or something and just say you have to do it. 皇冠体育appy won鈥檛 probably really support them whereas you might find some female mates who will understand that. 皇冠体育app callers we鈥檝e, they鈥檝e got no support whatsoever.
AP: 皇冠体育appre is a problem here though, money. 皇冠体育appre are certain things in place to help female victims - refuges where they can stay. 皇冠体育appre鈥檚 none of that for men. Natasha Rattu is from helpline Karma Nirvana.
Natasha Rattu - from Karma Nirvana: I think it鈥檚 brilliant to raise awareness. I think that we鈥檙e very much scratching the surface on this issue and as much awareness as this issue can get is brilliant. But then the difficulty lies in trying to find for example refuge provision. So it鈥檚 about being able to then support these people that potentially will come forward.
AP: 皇冠体育app reason we鈥檙e hearing about this now is because we鈥檙e close to the start of the school summer holidays when cases go up. I鈥檝e been talking to someone in the Government about the whole thing.
Jeremy Browne - Foreign Office Minister (JB): Hello, my name鈥檚 Jeremy Browne. I鈥檓 a Minister in the Foreign Office.
AP: **We always tend to think of forced marriage as being mainly a problem that involves women.
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JB: We are aware of about one thousand seven hundred cases a year and about six out of every seven of those cases it is the woman who is the victim. One in seven involve men. Talking about, you know, a couple of hundred cases a year that we are aware of. Probably a bit of a surprise for people listening to this programme, but it鈥檚 an issue we want to shine a spotlight on.
AP: Aren鈥檛 you worried you鈥檙e taking attention away from the bulk of the problem which is forced marriage involving women?
JB: Well I hope we鈥檙e focusing attention on the whole issue of forced marriage. It is mainly involving women and of course a lot of our emphasis is on women, but it鈥檚 worth I think raising this, this point about the men who are involved. So it is not a completely minor issue.
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AP: **Forced marriage is something that has been linked with people being murdered, going missing, being estranged from their families, imprisoned against their will, having all sorts of problems. Are you prepared to guarantee the funding for the programmes that you have?
JB: Across the whole of Government there are going to have to be efforts to spend more money efficiently and wisely. I鈥檓 not saying it on this particular case, but I don鈥檛 think you can go around making great guarantees about all Government funding, because we have a big difficult national situation. 皇冠体育app reason I am on is to tell people that it is a priority for us. We have staff in the British Foreign Office who are dedicated to precisely the work that I鈥檓 talking about. 皇冠体育appre are people who turn up for work every day in the British Government wanting to help people on this issue.
AP: So when the day comes will you stand up and say I know we鈥檝e got to make x per cent cuts, but this is an area where we can鈥檛 really do that?
JB: I鈥檓 standing up for it today and what we have said about all of the services that we provide for British citizens who need the support of the British Government, we have a plan for the service as a whole. We鈥檝e just launched it for the next three years and that is a really core part of the Foreign Office.