The fight for freedom

Aneeta Prem campaigns to shed light on the dangers of forced marriages and how to recognise and support its victims. She recently launched Freedom Charity.

For many of us, freedom is a birth-right we take for granted. However, for an alarming number of young ethnic minority women in the UK, freedom is not a given.

Many women from certain communities are restricted from asserting their rights and are forced to marry against their will by their own families, often being misled, kidnapped and imprisoned until marriage.

Once married, many are subjected to brutal rape and physical abuse at the hands of their spouse. For those who refuse to submit, the cost is often death at the hands of their own relatives. For these victims, the family is not a hub of unconditional love, but a prison built upon fear and false notions of honour.  

This is why Freedom Charity - committed to ending the practice of forced marriage in the UK by supporting and empowering young people through education and school awareness programmes, advice and guidance, campaigning, advocacy and outreach was set up in December last year.

The launch at the Palace of Westminster included Lord’s Speaker Baroness Hayman, Baroness Scotland and Lord Toby Harris, chair of the Trustees, with contributions from Anne-Marie Hutchinson, a leading human rights lawyer.

Despite the snow, guests from the media, public, private and third sectors, were able to meet workers in the field of forced marriage and discuss this and related issues. 

Dr Humayra Abedin, a British doctor kidnapped and forced into marriage, spoke movingly of her own experiences.  And I gave examples of some of the compelling evidence I had heard from victims that compelled me of the need to launch Freedom Charity. 

Worldwide around 60 million girls are child brides, married before the age of 18. The UK Home Office reports that in 2009, 1682 cases of forced marriage were reported to the Forced Marriage Unit, with 25% of the cases involving people under the age of 18.

Their ethnic backgrounds vary, but the majority of victims in the UK are South-East Asian, often from Sikh, Hindu or Muslim backgrounds. These statistics, however, do not convey the true figure of forced marriage; many victims of are too scared to report it due to fear of their family.

We were overwhelmed by the support from the many different fields since launching the charity which has confirmed the need for this type of support, and we can now start to help those affected, which include forced marriages that take place in the UK between British citizens, and others that involve a partner coming from overseas or a British citizen being sent abroad

My family originate from Himachal Pradesh in Northern India, where my father campaigned for the education of women.

Carrying on this tradition I aim to take practical steps to raise awareness of these problems in schools and amongst young people, and to support those who are at risk and need help.

The charity is comprised of a team of like-minded individuals whose objectives include engaging and empowering young people, offering guidance and advice, as well as identifying and supporting victims of forced marriages and dis-honour based violence with a range of intervention and support programmes.

To highlight this sensitive topic to young teenagers I have written a book called ‘But it’s not fair’, a fictional story based on the observations of an Asian girl whose friend is almost a victim of arranged marriage.

The book raises awareness on the issue and introduces ideas of how to help if the reader recognises a potential victim of forced marriage.

The charity aims to raise enough money to provide every 14-16 year-old with a copy of the book, as well as a teaching pack for the classroom to facilitate discussion.

The fight is far from over, and Freedom charity still has many objectives in the pipeline, including establishing a schools awareness programme, recruiting and training a team of community volunteers in every region of the UK and providing a range of preventative and intervention based therapies and services.

I am also planning to stage theatre productions in schools, encouraging survivors to share their stories.

This issue needs attention and my aim is to be part of helping to bring safety and freedom to those who are being denied their rights.

Aneeta Prem, is the founder of Freedom charity. She was one of the youngest magistrates to be appointed in London. She became the lead member on forced marriages and dishonour based violence at the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She is an influential voice on the subject of forced marriages and dishonour based violence.

http://www.freedomcharity.org.uk/