Capital's hidden numbers of forced marriage victims

The warning comes with the release of the first report by the Direct Approach network, a partnership between police and organisations representing ethnic minority women.

It surveyed 40 women in the Capital's ethnic minority community, with half admitting they either knew someone affected or had been victims themselves. That compares with just seven cases which are reported on average each year in Edinburgh, suggesting a huge number of hidden victims.

Legislation has recently been introduced to Scottish Parliament giving legal protection to victims of forced marriage, but critics say women may be reluctant to criminalise family members, and that it may not address the problem of under-reporting.

The director of the Edinburgh and Lothians Racial Equality Council, Nina Giles, said the survey identified teachers and doctors as professionals who could help prevent forced marriages from taking place.

She says they need to be trained to recognise warning signs such as long, unexplained holidays or signs of abuse, but admits it may be difficult for some to decide when it is appropriate to intervene.

"They need to seek advice so if they're approached by a minority ethnic child, for example, then they know what to do," she said

Forced marriages differ from arranged marriages because there is no opportunity for either partner to refuse. Victims can receive constant pressure from relatives to enter into a partnership, others are blackmailed, brainwashed or bullied and some women surveyed referred to the use of black magic.

The forced partnerships are often used so family members can be granted access to UK visas, while others use it to preserve their cultural identity.

Chief Superintendent Gill Imery said one problem was building trust in the victims, many of whom consider approaching police as bringing shame on the family. "Here in Lothian and Borders we've had 31 incidents of honour-based violence in the past two years, but the nature of the incidents means it's (difficult to prosecute] and we've only had nine arrests," she said.

"There are so many family members involved and so many loyalties, misplaced or otherwise... it can be quite challenging to gather enough evidence."

NHS Lothian's adviser on gender-based violence, Lesley Johnston, said: "We are currently training mental health and midwifery staff to carry out a routine inquiry process."

A Scottish Government spokesman said it would look at providing more support when the bill was implemented.

"We will ensure that education materials are made available nationally," he said.

'They hit, cajoled, bribed and begged me'

ONE young woman, known as "Sara" told of how she approached Edinburgh-based Shakti Women's Aid after she was forced, at 17, into marrying. "My parents said to me that we were going to Bangladesh as a marriage had been arranged for me," she said.

"I didn't want to marry. My parents hit, cajoled, bribed, and begged me, my mum even overdosed on paracetamol to make me agree. Finally, they gave up and said they won't make me do anything I don't want to do."

But their attitude changed when the family travelled to Bangladesh to attend a cousin's wedding a few months later. "On the day of the wedding my mum gave me some bridal clothes to put on. I asked her what was going on and she told me I was going to get married too. I was so scared because I knew that if I didn't agree they would never let me go home. Then, a troop of boys were brought in and I was told to pick one."

Sara said that when she returned to Scotland after the wedding she didn't know who to turn to, but with the help of Shakti Women's Aid was able to make the "tough, frightening and heartbreaking" decision to leave her house, change her name and hide from her family. Now at university, she admits "I miss my parents, but what can I do, modern times in Scotland are not for all."