In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, forced marriage is still an urgent problem. In addition to Pakistani girls being married in the region, young girls are also being brought from Britain to be wed. However, there is growing awareness in the Kashmir region about the illegality of forced marriage, and prominent Islamic clerics have spoken out against the practice.
Around 300 forced marriage cases are heard each year in Kashmir, but this is an extreme underrepresentation of the problem. The United Kingdom’s Forced Marriage Unit says that about half of their 1500 cases involve Pakistan.