100 Children Aged 12 or Under Referred to UK Forced Marriage Unit, Including 27 Aged Five or Under

At least 100 children aged 12 or under were referred to the UK Government's Forced Marriage Unit over five years, including 27 aged five or under, according to newly released Home Office figures.

The data, obtained by the Press Association through a Freedom of Information request, covers 2021 to 2025. It shows that 62 of the referrals involved children aged 10 or under.

The figures do not mean that 100 children were confirmed to have been forced into marriage. The Home Office defines a referral as information provided about an actual, potential or suspected forced marriage.

Some Cases Involved Very Young Children

The Home Office withheld some year-by-year figures because the numbers were small enough that publishing them could risk identifying individual children. It also withheld the age of the youngest child referred during the five-year period for the same reason.

Nine children aged 12 or under were referred in 2022 in cases with no overseas element, meaning the potential or actual forced marriage would have taken place entirely in the UK. Equivalent figures for other years were not published where the numbers were between zero and five.

The Forced Marriage Unit receives referrals from police, social services, education professionals, relatives, friends and people seeking help themselves.

Child Referrals Can Involve Future Marriages

The Home Office's wider Forced Marriage Unit guidance says cases involving young children can concern a promise of a future marriage, known as betrothal, rather than an imminent wedding.

They can also involve younger siblings of someone considered to be at risk.

Separate annual figures for 2025 show the Forced Marriage Unit provided tailored support in 406 cases involving possible forced marriage or female genital mutilation.

Of those, 163 involved victims aged 17 or under. The figures cover all age groups and should not be added to the 100 child referrals recorded in the new FOI data.

The 2025 statistics also recorded 58 cases with no overseas element, compared with 15 in 2024 and 10 in 2023.

Campaigner Warns Over Child Safeguarding

Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, who escaped a forced marriage as a teenager, described the number of referrals involving very young children as 'deeply disturbing'. She said some children can be promised to someone from birth, with the marriage taking place years later.

Sanghera also warned that the return to school in September could reveal children who have disappeared from education. She urged teachers and other professionals to report safeguarding concerns.

Her comments are separate from the Home Office figures and do not establish how many of the children referred ultimately entered a forced marriage.

Forced Marriage Is a Criminal Offence in the UK

Forcing someone to marry is a criminal offence in the UK. In England and Wales, the legal age of marriage was raised from 16 to 18 in 2023. The law also covers cases where a person lacks the capacity to consent to marriage.

The Forced Marriage Unit operates across the UK and provides support to people facing forced marriage, as well as professionals handling suspected cases.

The newly released FOI figures provide a five-year breakdown of referrals involving children aged 12 or under. Because some figures were withheld to protect identities, the published total is described as at least 100. The data does not establish that every child referred was ultimately forced into marriage.