Women forced into marriage overseas asked to repay costs

[userschmoozer]

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/02/women-forced-into-marriage-overseas-asked-to-repay-cost-of-return-to-uk

Women who escape forced marriage are forced to hand over their passports until they have repaid the loan.
''Four young British women imprisoned and tortured at a “correctional” religious school in Somalia ahead of expected forced marriages told the Times they each had to pay £740 to return home, where the burden of the loans...contributed towards them becoming destitute.''

The original report is in the times but behind a paywall and I don't have a share token.

Forced marriage carried a penalty of up to 7 years in prison, but it seems to be rarely prosecuted.

This is what’s weird. It should surely be an open and shut case, when the girl/woman concerned has been rescued. Why is there no automatic prosecution of those parents?

Unjustifiable and an absolutely block-headed interpretation of the rules requiring the FCO to recoup its costs.

wow. which other crimes should the UK taxpayer recoup the costs of protection /rescue from the intended victim? imagining the variations in all those police dramas on telly when our heroes start to issue an invoice to the person they just saved, if they have the temerity to only have permanent leave to remain rather than full citizenship. will it be a set price for prevention of any crime like prescription charges or a sliding scale according to the seriousness of the crime prevented? or perhaps an itemised bill for actual expenses incurred?

Quite talking. It must be one of the easiest crimes to solve-Its going to be done at least at the parents request, even if the actual deed is done by an uncle or family friend. They need to come down on them like a ton of bricks. What's the point of the law if the perpetrators know they can do what they like without being prosecuted?

Things should be named exactly what they are, to stop the ability to pussy foot around legalities.

Force marriage = Kidnap

kidnap trying selling that "as we need to recoup the costs from the Victim"

The other one that springs to mind as similar was the criminal compensation people refusing compemsation for victims of csa even when the perpetrators had been found guilty in a court of law.

Their justification was that they believed the victim had consented, and the conviction showed guilt in law but not necessarily in fact.

So they were prepared to undermine the criminal justice system quite severely in order to keep money from victims of csa & grooming.

Things in common

Victims usually female
Victims usually young
Crime involves sex

Interesting.

It shouldn't be up to me (tax payers) to cover the costs here. surely the scandal is that it is happening in the first place, with the lack of convictions the cherry on top. This time line...

How are they not billing those costs to the parents (along with prosecuting them)?

FFS! Should be so simple, forced marriage is a crime so the criminals or, failing that, the government governing the criminals has to pay! This should be such a basic part of law enforcement, baffling!

If someone sets fire to your house and the fire brigade have to rescue you, you don't pay. If someone locks you in your car and the police have to get you out, you don't pay. Why is this any different?

If someone sets fire to your house and the fire brigade have to rescue you, you don't pay. If someone locks you in your car and the police have to get you out, you don't pay. Why is this any different?

Because this only happens to women and girls.

The issue above about how easy it should be to prosecute is in real life incredibly complicated. These women overwhelmingly don’t want to be separated from their families and communities. Education if the wider family and the woman reintegrating but on better terms is often the woman’s own wish. Most do not want their parents or relatives punished. I recognise absolutely the problems with this but there are very real problems for these women if they are left completely separate and alone. I worked recently with a young woman who had gone off alone and she was looking at spending Christmas in a bedsit desperately wishing that college would restart. She expected to see no one over the holiday period.

And otherwise yes is an abusive scandal, never thought the day would come where I beacame a reader of the Times .

Because this only happens to women and girls.

Depressing but very true. Maybe these charges could be paid out of the years of tampon tax they've had from us, would be poetic at least if not actually fair

NothingOnTellyAgain yes, I thought there were really glaring parallels between this issue and the grooming gangs too.

Police response seems to have been pretty much the same as it originally was in Rotherham etc.

It’s very difficult when the girls won’t testify against their parents, and remain at risk of honour killing by the family for the “shame” of escaping the forced marriage.
Ideally, yes, all these vile parents should be prosecuted, imprisoned and the F.O. costs claimed from them along with huge fines, but it’s near to impossible without witness testimony.

Terribletweens Thu 03-Jan-19 13:48:56
Maybe these charges could be paid out of the years of tampon tax they've had from us

What an excellent idea