Freedom Charity
Education, campaigning, professional awareness and routes to specialist support for forced marriage, FGM and dishonour abuse.
Explore Freedom CharityHUMAN RIGHTS · SAFEGUARDING · PREVENTION
Human rights and safeguarding
Abuse does not become less serious because it happens inside a family, is defended as tradition or is hidden behind the language of honour.
Aneeta Prem’s work addresses forced marriage, female genital mutilation, dishonour abuse and related forms of coercion and control. Her focus is not only on what the law does after harm has occurred, but on what education, public services and communities must do to prevent it.
IF SOMEBODY IS IN DANGER
Call 999 in an emergency. If you are calling from a mobile and cannot speak, listen to the operator and press 55 if prompted so the call can be transferred to the police. This website is not an emergency or casework service; use the specialist-help links below for confidential support.
01
Forced marriage
A forced marriage is one in which one or both people do not or cannot consent and pressure or abuse is used to make the marriage happen. In England and Wales, it is also an offence to do anything intended to cause a child to marry before the age of 18, even if no coercion is used.
Forced marriage is not the same as an arranged marriage. In an arranged marriage, both people remain free to accept or refuse the proposal.
Aneeta has campaigned for forced marriage to be treated as abuse, a safeguarding concern and a matter of public protection. Her work formed part of the wider public and political movement around forced marriage before and after its criminalisation in England and Wales.
02
Female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation, or FGM, refers to procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It has no health benefit and can cause immediate and lifelong physical and psychological harm.
FGM is child abuse. Prevention depends on adults recognising risk, responding safely and refusing to allow discomfort about culture or language to delay protection.
03
Why Aneeta says ‘dishonour abuse’
Official bodies commonly use the term honour-based abuse. Aneeta uses dishonour abuse in her own work because honour is the perpetrator’s attempted justification, not a quality of the act.
Dishonour abuse may include coercive control, forced marriage, FGM, threats, assault, stalking, abduction, confinement or murder. It can involve several relatives or community members, which makes ordinary assumptions about safe family involvement dangerous.
There is no honour in controlling, frightening or harming another person. The dishonour lies with those who abuse, not with the person who refuses, leaves or asks for help.Read the cornerstone analysis
04
Consent and capacity
Consent must be freely given, informed and specific. It cannot be inferred from silence, compliance, fear or dependency.
Some people face heightened risk because they have a learning disability, cognitive impairment or another condition affecting decision-making. A person who lacks capacity to consent to marriage cannot give valid consent, and nobody else can consent to marriage on their behalf.
Children do not always disclose
Children living with coercion may not describe themselves as victims. They may fear punishment, removal from their family, disbelief or consequences for somebody they love. Some have never been told that what is happening is wrong.
Safeguarding cannot depend on a child producing a perfect account.
FROM ANALYSIS TO ACTION
Prevention before crisis
The Five Freedoms
A practical framework built around the freedom to choose, refuse, leave, learn and be.
Explore the frameworkThis page provides general public information about safeguarding and Aneeta Prem’s work. It is not individual legal advice or a casework service.