Reviewed and updated 22 August 2026 using the official 2025 Forced Marriage Unit statistics.
By Aneeta Prem MBE
The 2025 Forced Marriage Unit figures should be read carefully. They do not measure how many forced marriages take place in the UK. They show the cases and enquiries that reached a specialist government unit.
Even with that limitation, the figures expose two safeguarding issues that deserve far more attention: children and people whose capacity to consent to marriage is in doubt.
What the 2025 figures actually show
In 2025, the Forced Marriage Unit received 1,295 contacts relating to possible forced marriage or FGM. These comprised 406 cases in which tailored assistance was provided and 889 enquiries requiring advice or signposting.
Among the 406 tailored-assistance cases:
- 163 cases — 40% — involved victims aged 17 or under;
- 75 cases — 18% — involved mental-capacity concerns;
- 105 cases — 26% — involved male victims;
- 58 cases — 14% — had no overseas element; the potential or actual forced marriage took place entirely within the UK.
The Unit also reports that 79% of victims were in the UK when the case was referred.
These statistics are not prevalence figures
This is one of the most important points in the release. The numbers only represent cases reported to the Forced Marriage Unit and do not show the true scale of forced marriage, which is often hidden.
There was also a change in recording practice in 2025, with the introduction of a broader “tailored assistance” category. The Government therefore warns against making simple year-to-year comparisons.
Good analysis should not turn an administrative increase into a claim that forced marriage itself rose by the same percentage.
Forty per cent of tailored cases involved children
Of the 406 cases, 87 involved children aged 15 or under and 76 involved 16- or 17-year-olds.
In England and Wales, the law changed on 27 February 2023 so that doing anything intended to cause a child to marry before 18 can constitute a forced-marriage offence without proving violence, threats or another form of coercion.
That matters because a child may not describe what is happening in legal language. They may mention an engagement, a family trip, pressure to accept a relationship or fear about what will happen if they say no.
Capacity cannot be treated as a footnote
Seventy-five cases involved victims whose mental capacity to consent to marriage was in doubt. Among that group, 64% were male and 58% were aged 26 or over.
A person who lacks capacity to consent to marriage cannot have that decision made for them by a parent, relative or professional. Apparent compliance, family agreement or the belief that marriage will provide care does not create consent.
This is why forced marriage is also a disability-rights and adult-safeguarding issue.
The UK-only cases matter
The 58 cases with no overseas element challenge another persistent misconception. Forced marriage does not always involve an airport, a passport or a wedding abroad.
It can take place wholly within the UK, including through religious, community or traditional ceremonies that may not be legally registered.
Professionals therefore need to recognise control and coercion without waiting for an international travel risk.
What earlier intervention looks like
The Forced Marriage Unit says the earlier it is contacted, the greater the range of options available to reduce risk. That should shape practice in schools, social care, health services and policing.
Professionals do not need certainty before taking a safeguarding concern seriously. They do need to listen, record accurately, follow current guidance and avoid actions — such as contacting family members or attempting mediation — that could increase danger.
The figures do not tell us how common forced marriage is. They tell us who reached help. The safeguarding challenge is to reach people before the risk has narrowed their choices.
Sources and further reading
- GOV.UK: Forced Marriage Unit statistics 2025
- GOV.UK: Forced marriage resource pack
- GOV.UK: multi-agency forced-marriage guidance