First forced marriage prosecution: Tradition and culture cannot justify this

What cannot be ignored is that a staggering 38 per cent, the vast majority, involve my country of origin, Pakistan

As a 34-year-old Cardiff man becomes the first person in the UK to be prosecuted under new UK forced marriage laws, I recalled my own brush with this problem.

I was a foolhardy and naive 17-year-old in college. She was smart and most likely saw through much of my bluster. Let’s call her Yasmin. We loved each other and I introduced my parents to hers. I wanted to do things “properly”.

Arranged between lovers, yet with the consent of the parents, I had hoped we could agree to a period of promised engagement – a magni – until she and I completed our studies. Except, her parents refused to give their consent.

Nevertheless, we had my mother’s full backing to proceed, even to the extent that she agreed to shelter Yasmin at our home if need be. One summer Yasmin’s father took her on a family holiday to Pakistan. But when her call came a few weeks later, I was greeted by a terrified and confused voice. “My father married me off to my cousin in Pakistan. I can run to your mother’s if you’ll still have me?” she said.

I too was beholden to some patriarchal elements of tradition and I asked her to seek religious guidance. The salafist Imam she asked confirmed the religious validity of her forced marriage, and I dutifully terminated our relationship. I still blame myself for refusing to stand up to the Imam’s verdict.

But herein lies the crux of it. Campaign groups claim that between 8,000 and 10,000 marriages are forced in the UK every year. Last year, the Government’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) looked at 1,267 cases covering 88 countries.

What cannot be ignored is that a staggering 38 per cent, the vast majority, involve my country of origin, Pakistan.

To begin addressing this huge disproportion, just as we cannot ignore the role of tradition and culture, we too must not ignore how religious justification is used to legitimise this practice. To be too polite about the need for reform, to be overly culturally sensitive about it, to be too politically correct about it, is to betray every new petrified 17 year-old Yasmin.

Maajid Nawaz is chairman of Quilliam, a counter-extremism organisation