Forced marriages - the need for criminalisation?

Sections 120 and 121 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (‘the 2014 Act’) make it a criminal offence to breach a Forced Marriage Protection Order (FMPO) and to force a person into marriage. This paper will examine the arguments for and against the policy to criminalise forced marriages. While forced marriages are wrong and violate human rights, the 2014 Act may do little to prevent them because victims may be reluctant to see family members prosecuted. While, symbolically, criminalisation is welcomed because it makes a strong declaration that forced marriages are unacceptable, what is notably absent are strategies on prevention