Showing posts with label
Home Affairs Select Committee.
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Showing posts with label
Home Affairs Select Committee.
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Forced marriage law "is welcome"
Campaigners have welcomed a Government plan to outlaw forced marriages – but warned the laws could deter victims from coming forward.
The proposed new laws mean parents who force their children to marry could be brought before the courts and possibly jailed.
Meena Kumari, who runs Safe, which helps protect young people from being forced to marry welcomed the proposal and said a growing number of victims were coming forward to seek help.
However, she urged ministers to proceed with the new laws with caution.
Ms Kumari said: "Some of the people we have supported might not have come forward if they thought their parents could end up in prison.
"So, while we are really grateful that the Government is taking this issue so seriously, they have to proceed with caution.
"Some of the people who we work with would simply walk away if they thought they were going to have to face their families in court."
Safe works with police, social services, schools and colleges to identify victims and help them flee abusive homes and rebuild their lives, sometimes under new identities.
It is hearing from one person every month – some as young as 14 – who fear they are being pushed into a marriage against their will.When it launched two and a half years ago, new cases were coming to light every three months, Ms Kumari said.
Detective Inspector Mark Parish, who runs Leicestershire Police's domestic violence team, said: "We are seeing a gradual increase in cases, but it is still under-reported.
"It is a big step for people to contact us but they can be assured we will do everything we can to help them get through this difficult period in their lives."
Police have the option of seeking court orders to prevent families forcing a relative to marry. Officers also put victims in touch with welfare organisations such as Safe or local authorities for help with re-housing and ongoing support.
Leicester East MP Keith Vaz is chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, which has previously urged the Government to outlaw the practice.
Mr Vaz said: "The Government must not only prosecute those who commit this appalling crime, but prevent it from happening in the first place. There should be zero tolerance of this harmful activity that ruins the lives of so many."
Announcing the plan, the Prime Minister said local authorities and voluntary groups would be given a share of a £500,000 fund to help combat the problem, including helping teachers to spot children at risk.
A Home Office spokesman said the Government would publish further details of the proposals later. Contact Safe on 0800 022 3353 or visit: www.safedvs.co.uk
US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson honoured with degree at De Montfort University
Civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson received an honorary degree yesterday.
He was a key speaker at De Montfort University's conference on terrorism and radicalism, organised by the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee, chaired by Leicester East MP Keith Vaz.
Mr Jackson said other cities could look to Leicester for tips on multicultural and racial harmony.
He said: "This is a multicultural city and it shows that when people work alongside each other, together as a team, things can work.
"Here is Leicester there are many races and many faces from many places."
Mr Jackson marched with Martin Luther King Jr in Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s and, in 1979, visited South Africa, where he spoke out against apartheid.
He also won praise for negotiating the release of American soldiers and civilians held around the world and, in the 1980s, became a leading national spokesman for African Americans and twice stood for the Democrats nomination for president.
When asked what Leicester could do to further fight terrorism, he said: "We must be radical but radical in a loving and caring and peaceful way, fighting together to change our world.
"We must think about the way we interpret the word 'radical' and remember that Jesus was a radical – but in this peaceful sense I talk about.
"We must all fight to coexist in peace."
Mr Jackson spoke at the conference about the lessons to be learned from the US experience of tackling radicalisation and said that we must address the disparity in wealth between the rich and poor in order to achieve peace.
Other speakers at the conference included Ian Paisley Jr MP, who discussed his experiences in Northern Ireland, as well as Home Office security minister James Brokenshire and Dr Dipu Moni, the foreign minister of Bangladesh.
At the conference, Mr Vaz announced he would today ask parliament to honour Mr Jackson by nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize.
University set to pay tribute to Rev Jesse Jackson
Civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson will receive an honorary degree from De Montfort University next week.
Rev Jackson, who twice ran for president in America in the 1980s, will be the keynote speaker when the university hosts a major conference on preventing terrorism on Tuesday.
The conference has been organised by Parliament's powerful Home Affairs Select Committee, chaired by city MP Keith Vaz, which is looking at the causes of terrorism and radicalisation in the UK.
The university's vice-chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard said: "We share Rev Jackson's values throughout our university community.
"We are very pleased to welcome him to DMU and honour his numerous achievements as an inspirational advocate and campaigner for civil rights in the USA and around the world."
Mr Vaz, who represents Leicester East, said: "This conference is set to contribute significantly to the conversation on radicalisation and I am looking forward to hearing from Rev Jackson when he delivers his keynote speech next Tuesday.
"The roots of violent radicalisation remains a subject of great national interest and this prestigious institution, with its reputation for hosting and furthering national debates, is the perfect location."
The conference's findings will be passed to the Government as it creates its Prevent Strategy, which is designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
Rev Jackson's keynote speech will look into the lessons to be learned from the US experience of tackling radicalisation.
After the conference, he will receive his honorary degree at a ceremony at the St Mary De Castro Church, adjacent to the university campus, in front of hundreds of invited guests.
Other speakers at the conference include Ian Paisley Junior MP, who will discuss his experiences in Northern Ireland, as well as Home Office security minister James Brokenshire and Dr Dipu Moni, the Foreign Minister for Bangladesh.
The threat from the far right as well as religious fanaticism will also be considered.
Heightened security is expected to be in place across the campus due to the number of high-profile political figures at the event.
Rev Jackson last visited the city in 2008.
This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Support for Cameron in Leicester over forced marriage
Campaigners have welcomed David Cameron's pledge to give greater protection to women forced to marry against their will.
The Prime Minister said yesterday that forced marriage – as opposed to consensual, arranged marriage – was "little more than slavery".
He announced measures to encourage victims to come forward and said the Government was considering strengthening the law to punish those who coerced children into wedlock.
Meena Kumari, of Safe, a police-backed support group for Leicester's victims of domestic violence, welcomed the publicity for the often hidden issue.
Safe works with police, social services, schools and colleges to identify victims and help them flee abusive homes and rebuild their lives.
Ms Kumari said: "The fact the Prime Minister is talking openly about forced marriage is great. People have shied away from this issue.
"We are seeing an increase in the number of cases we're dealing with, but I don't think that is because it's a growing problem."The greater awareness is helping and people are no longer prepared to tolerate being treated this way."
But she urged caution about making arranging a forced marriage a criminal offence.
"Some of the people we have supported might not have come forward if they thought their parents or other close relatives could end up in prison," she said.
Leicestershire police started recording forced marriage cases in 2004 and over the next four-and-a-half years was alerted to 34.
In the following 18 months, to April last year, it received 101 reports.
The figures have continued to climb since, said Det Sgt Kev Wright, of the specialist domestic violence team.
He said: "As with domestic violence, the increased number of reports is seen as a positive."
Aneeta Prem, founder and president of Freedom, a charity which supports victims, said: "It may come as a surprise to many that forcing someone into marriage is not already a criminal offence. We are delighted the Prime Minister is taking a lead on this issue."
Mr Cameron also announced that those who breached court orders designed to protect victims once they had moved away from their families could face a harsher penalty than the current maximum two-year prison sentence.
The Prime Minister announced a series of measures to reduce immigration, including requiring people who wish to settle in the UK to have good command of English and evidence that they have the finance to support themselves.
In response to these measures, Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "At a time when abuses in the immigration system, including bogus colleges, remain prevalent, it would be a better use of resources to focus on improving administration in the UK Border Agency."
Contact Safe on 0800 022 3353.
www.safedvs.co.uk
MP calls for forced marriage to be criminalised
Forced marriages should be criminalised, an MP has said.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, made the comments after the committee finished an inquiry into the issue yesterday.
Its final report found that forced marriage affected thousands of young people in the UK.
Mr Vaz, the MP for Leicester East, said: "I am very disappointed that progress on protection and awareness remains slow.
"I am also concerned that a loss of specialist support services due to spending cuts will stunt further progress.
"We believe the best way to deter people is through criminalising forced marriage.
"Taking this bold step alongside providing a range of services supporting victims of violence and raising awareness in schools must be a priority for the Government.
"There should be zero tolerance of this harmful activity that ruins the lives of so many."
Mr Vaz said it was possible for the authorities to tackle forced marriage through the civil courts, by persuading a judge to issue a Forced Marriage Protection Order. These impose restrictions such as who a person can contact.
If the subject breached the order they could get sent to prison for up to two years.
Since 2008, the last time the committee ran an inquiry into forced marriages, 293 orders have been issued, but Mr Vaz said they had not been properly enforced.
