Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many cases were referred to the Forced Marriage Unit in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015 and (e) 2016; how many of those cases were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service in each of those years.

The UK is a world leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. The FMU gives advice or support through its public helpline or by email. In 2012, this amounted to 1,485 cases related to a possible forced marriage; 1,302 cases in 2013; 1,267 cases in 2014; 1,220 cases in 2015; and 1,428 cases in 2016. The FMU public statistics are published annually here: www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage-collected-by-fmu. The FMU works closely with UK statutory agencies such as the police and social services, but does not refer cases directly to the Crown Prosecution Service.