Schools Get Emergency Forms To Combat Forced Marriage Risk
German authorities have issued emergency guidance to Baden-Württemberg schools warning staff to watch for girls at risk of forced marriage or abduction during summer holidays.
The education ministry for the southern German state distributed an emergency form to teaching staff before the start of the summer break, which runs until September 12, according to Brussels Signal. The document instructs teachers on how to identify warning signs and provides contact information for specialist support centres.
In a press release dated July 31, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport stated that unexplained absences after the holiday period can indicate cases of forced marriage or young women being prevented from returning to Germany from abroad.
The form, titled “Forced marriage during the holidays – How can you, as someone not directly affected, help?”, was produced by the women’s rights organisation Terre des Femmes. The German weekly Junge Freiheit reported on the measure on August 24.
Criminal Penalties in Place Since 2011
Forced marriage has been a criminal offence under German law since July 1, 2011, when paragraph 237 of the criminal code came into force. Convictions carry prison sentences ranging from six months to five years, with lesser cases punishable by fines or up to three years imprisonment.
German law also criminalises taking someone abroad through force, threat or deception for the purpose of forced marriage, or preventing their return. These provisions remain in effect even when such acts are committed outside Germany against German nationals or residents.
Hundreds of Cases Reported Annually
Maria Decker, chair of the Koblenz-based women’s rights organisation Solidarity with Women in Distress (SOLWODI), warned on June 22 that summer holidays represent a particularly high-risk period for vulnerable girls and young women.
SOLWODI’s specialist advice centres supported 261 people nationwide in 2025 in connection with threatened or completed forced marriages, and a further 91 cases involving threatened or actual female genital mutilation. The organisation reported that nearly 3,000 women contacted its services for the first time in 2025 across all forms of violence.
Decker emphasised that many victims look forward to family visits abroad without realising that a marriage or genital mutilation procedure may have been arranged in advance.
Warning Signs and Prevention Efforts
SOLWODI advised teachers, school social workers, medical professionals, friends and relatives to remain vigilant for potential indicators of risk. These include pronounced anxiety about planned foreign travel, last-minute trips to a family’s country of origin, increased family control, or comments about an impending engagement or wedding.
The Stuttgart-based counselling centre Yasemin recorded approximately 600 calls for help over the course of a year, according to Junge Freiheit. The service receives contact not only from affected girls and young women, but also from teachers, social workers and others who encounter suspected cases.
Yasemin provides support for young women with a migration background facing the threat of forced marriage or other forms of so-called honour violence. Operated by the Protestant welfare organisation Evangelische Gesellschaft Stuttgart and funded by the state, the centre works with girls and young women aged 12 to 27 and conducts prevention sessions in schools from year seven onwards.
The Baden-Württemberg initiative represents part of broader efforts by German authorities and civil society organisations to combat what German law terms Heiratsverschleppung — marriage abduction — in which family holidays are used as cover to take young people abroad and prevent their return.
With information from Brussels Signal
