Housing project to support victims of domestic violence and forced marriages / 24dash.com, 2 September 2008
http://digbig.com/4xpge
"A new initiative to provide support for victims of domestic violence and forced marriages has been launched in Birmingham.
Throughcare Housing and Support is a charity project that provides accommodation and support for victims, and has already received backing from the Police Domestic Violence Unit, the Crown Prosecution Service as well as local and national government."

Domestic violence, forced marriage and 'honour'-based violence: the Government reply to the sixth report from the Home Affairs Commitee, session 2007-08 HC 263 / TSO, 23 July 2008
PDF - http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm74/7450/7450.pdf
Cm 7450

Forced Marriage - awareness raising materials / Every Child Matters, July 2008
http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/resources-and-practice/IG00331/
"These materials have been developed specifically for schools and young people to raise awareness of the issues surrounding forced marriage and provide information about sources of support."

Forced marriage statutory guidance: consultation paper / FCO and Home Office, 23 July 2008
PDF - http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/forcedmarriage-consultation
Closing date: 15 October

Marriage Visas: The way forward /Home Office, 23 July 2008
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/closedconsultations/marriagetopartnersfromoverseas/

"This is the Government's response to a consultation on proposed changes to marriage visas and to applications for settlement based on such visas."

[Europe] Women should be free of all gender-based violence / Amnesty International, 29 May 2008
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGIOR610072008&lang=e
"Violence against women in all its forms requires a comprehensive and proactive approach, where women and girls are assisted fully, regardless of the type of violence they have suffered or the existence or otherwise of a relationship with the perpetrator."

Forced Marriage: The Risk Factors and the Effect of Raising the Minimum Age for a Sponsor and of Leave to Enter the UK as a Spouse / School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, 2008
Research Summary
PDF - http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/downloads/FPCW/forcemarriageresearchsummary08.pdf
Marianne Hester, Khatidja Chantler, Geetanjali Gangoli et al
"The purpose of the study was to assess the risk factors associated with forced marriage and the effect of raising the minimum age for entry for a sponsor or spouse from the current age of 18 to 24. It examined the ways in which forced marriage is understood and experienced in different communities."

Forced Marriage: Guidance for local authorities and schools: Letter from Kevin Brennan / DCSF, 9 May 2008
PDF - http://www.dfes.gov.uk/localauthorities/_documents/content/1303080007%20_FM%20Letter%20to%20schools%20and%20LAs.pdf

Forced marriage helpline launches / Home Office, 11 April 2008
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/forced-marriage-help
"A new national helpline for victims of forced marriage and honour-based violence is now up and running. Called the ‘Honour Network’, the dedicated helpline is run by the charity Karma Nirvana, which helps survivors of honour crimes and forced marriages. The phone line will is staffed by survivors who understand what the victims are going through."

Justice for 'All Woman': speech by Bridget Prentice [Justice Minister] at the 'All Woman' conference in Sheffield / Ministry of Justice, 27 March 2008
http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/newsrelease270308b.htm

Successful visa appeals mean courts give green light to forced marriages / Times, 26 March 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3621619.ece
"British courts are overturning decisions taken by immigration officers that would have protected men and women from being forced into marriage."

Philip Balmforth: the police worker who fought forced marriages / Times, 29 March 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3642686.ece
"Mr Balmforth, a full-time police support worker whose post as vulnerable persons officer (Asian women) is partly funded by Bradford social services, has been contacted for help by more than 2,000 local women in recent years."

Scars and bruises of a girl who wanted to be young, free and single / Times, 29 March 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3642692.ece
"Gazing from the bedroom window of the house that was her virtual prison for two years, Ayesha would fantasise about what it might feel like to be free. The bright and articulate teenager had been locked away because her refusal to marry her first cousin made her a threat to her family’s sense of honour. "

Forced marriage, family cohesion and community engagement: national learning through a case study of Luton / Equality in Diversity, March 2008
PDF - http://www.margaretmoran.org/pdf/FMReport.pdf
Dr Nazia Khanum OBE
"This project is one of three national pilots funded by the Home Office, and is the outcome of a partnership involving the Metropolitan Police Service and the office of Margaret Moran MP (for Luton South). It is the first time that comprehensive qualitative research has been carried out on forced marriage in Luton. It provides the national context, the local picture and a set of recommendations which should be implemented in the short, medium and long term to support victims and eradicate forced marriage. We hope that these recommendations will be reviewed by all statutory and voluntary agencies, nationally and locally."

Leading article: We must not turn a blind eye to this cruelty / Independent, 4 February 2008
http://digbig.com/4whxe
"It is a shocking snapshot of a neglected problem. According to a Home Office consultation paper, more than 200 teenage girls – the vast majority of them Muslim – disappeared from Bradford in 2006. They were taken out of their schools one day and never returned. It is unclear what has happened to these children, but Asian women's support groups think it likely that a considerable number have been forced into marriage abroad. It is a phenomenon that seems geographically concentrated in Bradford because of its large Pakistani population, but it is reasonable to fear that the same thing is also going on around Britain."

Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 – Court Rules: Consultation Paper [CP 02/08] / Ministry of Justice, 31 January 2008
PDF - http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/cp0208.pdf
"This consultation will end on 24 April 2008"

Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 – Relevant Third Party: Consultation Paper / Ministry of Justice, 12 December 2007
PDF - http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/consultation-31-07.pdf

Women's Issues Network Event: Speech by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Bridget Prentice / Ministry of Justice, 29 November 2007
http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/sp281107a.htm
"Bridget Prentice highlighted the white ribbon campaign and laid out implementation plans of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act and the staff domestic violence policy.

Help for 'honour crime' victims / BBC News, 21 November 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7105144.stm
"Victims or witnesses to so-called honour crimes or forced marriages are being urged to come forward through a new leaflet which is being issued. Published in five different languages, 'Love, "Honour" and Obey' aims to reassure victims in the West Midlands that there is support for them. The West Midlands' Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was the first CPS publication of its kind in the country."

Forced marriages torment British South Asian men / Manila Times, 7 November 2007
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/07/yehey/opinion/20071107opi7.html
Robin Millard
"Imran Rehman is one of a very small number of young South Asian men brave enough to tackle the hidden hell of being born and raised in Britain but forced into marriages in their ancestral homeland. Forced marriages (as distinct from mutually-accepted arranged marriages) have led to suicides and murders, often called “honor killings,” of South Asians here, shocking a nation widely deemed to have successfully absorbed immigrant communities and customs."