Following a three-month consultation on the issue, Cameron pledged that the new law will include measures to better protect and support victims and will acknowledge that criminalisation could force the practice underground.
Cameron said: “Forced marriage is abhorrent and is little more than slavery. To force anyone into marriage against their will is simply wrong and that is why we have taken decisive action to make it illegal.”
The government has already set up a forced marriage unit to offer support and advice to victims. From January to May this year the unit handled 600 cases. Of these 14 per cent involved victims younger than 15 and 31 per cent involved victims aged 16 and 17.
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