Debate contribution: Forced Marriages
Debate contribution by Dr Caoimhe Archibald on .
- MLA
- Dr Caoimhe Archibald
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 28 January 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Forced Marriages
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4763968
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The General Register Office in my Department provides guidance to registrars in looking for the signs of possible forced marriage and reporting those to the appropriate authorities. That is part of a multi-agency approach to the prevention of forced marriage that operates across all sectors and involves agencies both within and outside government, including the PSNI, the courts, health trusts, schools and others. Action to prevent forced marriages is coordinated by the Forced Marriage Unit, a joint Home Office- and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office-sponsored body. My Department has previously inputted on legislative change to combat forced marriage and has worked with colleagues in the Department of Justice and others on this important issue through, for example, the development of guidance. During 2024, my Department developed policy on raising the minimum age of marriage from 16 to 18. That is in recognition that some child marriages can be forced. The Executive have agreed to include provisions in the forthcoming marriage and civil partnership Bill that will extend the offence of forced marriage to anyone attempting to arrange the marriage of a person aged under 18. I hope to bring that Bill to the Assembly for consideration in the coming months, and I believe that the relevant provisions will provide another important protection against forced marriage.
215 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.79).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.79 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.59 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.39 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:55 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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