Extra-territorial applications for forced marriage protection orders

In 2023 on appeal Knowles J granted a young woman who was both a US national and resident a Forced Marriage Protection Order (‘FMPO’) under the Family Law Act 1996. The woman had visited relations in Pakistan in 2014 where she was forced to marry her British cousin. Following the marriage the woman was raped by her cousin for one week before he departed for the UK. The woman returned to the US where she discovered that she was pregnant. Her cousin harassed her in emails telephone calls and social media. Knowles J stated that forced marriage was a serious form of domestic abuse and a global issue which required an extraterritorial approach. Perpetrators risked legal consequences if they were British nationals or UK residents. Her interpretation of the law...

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