More than 100 children aged 12 or under were referred to the British government’s Forced Marriage Unit between 2021 and 2025, new Home Office figures show.
The figures include 27 children aged five or under.
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, a campaigner who escaped a forced marriage when she was 14, described the number of very young children as “deeply disturbing.”
She warned that some children could disappear from school because they had been taken away for a forced marriage.
“I know that when schools open in September, there will be missing children,” she said. She also warned that some children could return to school engaged or even married.
Dame Jasvinder said some children could be “promised to somebody from birth,” with the marriage taking place many years later.
She also said the real number of cases was probably higher because many situations never reach the police, social services, or other authorities.
A referral to the Forced Marriage Unit does not necessarily mean that a forced marriage has taken place. It means that information was given about an actual, possible, or suspected case.
The figures show that nine children aged 12 or under were referred in 2022 in cases where there was no overseas element. This means the suspected or actual forced marriage took place entirely in the UK.
Forcing someone to marry is a criminal offence across the UK. In England and Wales, the legal age of marriage was raised from 16 to 18 in 2023. In Scotland, the legal age remains 16.
The Home Office said forced marriage was “not a problem specific to one country, religion, or culture” and that there was no typical victim or offender.
However, separate figures highlighted by the Centre for Migration Control think tank show that, in 2025, 41% of Forced Marriage Unit cases were linked to Pakistan, while 9% were linked to Bangladesh, and 7% to Afghanistan.
The think tank said this was linked to mass migration and multiculturalism.
Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf said
This sudden rise in forced marriages tracks almost perfectly with the Boriswave, which saw the Tories import four million new people into the UK. The Conservatives will never be forgiven for this complete and utter betrayal.
According to Dr Rakib Ehsan, a social policy analyst, the new figures have “exposed the dark underbelly of modern, multicultural Britain.”
