Archive · 2 Sep 2026
UK Forced Marriage Referrals Include More Than 100 Young Children
UK officials received reports about more than 100 children aged 12 or younger who may have faced forced marriage between 2021 and 2025.
Twenty-seven of those children were five or younger.
The reports went to a government team that helps people who may be at risk.
In 2025, the team received 406 referrals, which was more than the previous year.
Forty percent of the 2025 cases involved children aged 17 or younger.
Pakistan was listed as the destination in 165 cases.
A referral does not prove that a forced marriage happened.
Reform UK blamed the former Conservative governments for the increase.
The Home Office said forced marriage can affect people from any country, religion or culture.
At least 100 children aged 12 or under were referred to the UK Forced Marriage Unit between 2021 and 2025.
The referrals included 27 children aged five or younger.
The Forced Marriage Unit received 406 referrals in 2025, a 69% year-on-year increase, with 40% involving victims aged 17 or under.
Pakistan was identified as the destination in 165 of the 2025 referrals.
Reform UK blamed Conservative governments, while the Home Office said forced marriage is not specific to one country, religion or culture.
- Who
- Children and other potential victims referred to the UK Forced Marriage Unit; Reform UK and the UK Home Office also responded.
- What
- At least 100 children aged 12 or under were referred over 2021-2025, while total referrals reached 406 in 2025.
- When
- The data covers 2021 through 2025, with the reported 2025 total representing a 69% annual increase.
- Where
- The referrals were made in the United Kingdom; Pakistan was listed as the destination in 165 cases.
- Why
- The referrals concerned possible forced marriages, which are illegal in the UK; the articles do not establish that every referral resulted in a forced marriage.
Reform UK criticism
Home Office response
Cause of the increase
Reform UK criticism
Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf attributed the rise to Conservative governments and increased immigration, referring to a so-called “Boris wave.”
Home Office response
The Home Office did not attribute the problem to a particular political group, country, religion or culture and said forced marriage is not specific to any of them.
Interpretation of referrals
Reform UK criticism
Reform UK presented the growing number of referrals as evidence of a worsening forced-marriage problem and criticized the previous Conservative governments.
Home Office response
The Home Office data concerns referrals for advice and support; each referral does not necessarily mean that a forced marriage took place.
- Young children referred
- At least 100 children aged 12 or under between 2021 and 2025
- Children aged five or under
- 27 referrals
- 2025 referrals
- 406 cases referred to the Forced Marriage Unit
- Annual change
- A 69% increase in referrals in 2025
- Victims aged 17 or under
- 40% of 2025 referrals
- Pakistan destination
- 165 of the reported 2025 cases
- Maximum penalty
- Up to seven years in prison for forcing someone to marry in the UK
- Marriage age change
- England and Wales raised the legal marriage age from 16 to 18 in 2023