Extracts from article by Nina Lakhani in The Independent on Sunday, 27/7/08

Scores of young people with learning disabilities are being forced into marriages…More than one in five of the forced marriages reported to Government involve disabled people…The Foreign Office’s Forced Marriage Unit dealt with 400 cases last year – and more than 80 of these involved people with learning disabilities…Mandy Sanghera, a social worker with Voice UK, a charity which helps people with learning disabilities, believes that the emphasis must be on protecting vulnerable individuals rather than on the communities which are failing them…According to Saghir Alam, of Equality2025, the Governments disability advisory body, social services must become more culturally sensitive so parents do not feel marriage is the only long-term care option.

Websites:

www.voiceuk.org.uk

www.equality2025.co.uk