A HARD-hitting video has been released to highlight the devastating impact of forced marriage on both victims and their families to coincide with half-term.

The Government's Forced Marriage Unit hopes to raise public awareness of the impact of forced marriage with the release of the video, and warn of the criminal consequences involved.

It is told from the perspective of a victim's older brother, who is complicit in arranging her forced marriage but unaware of its true impact until it is too late.

The short film represents the first time the unit has directly targeted family members and its timing, ahead of October half-term, is due to the fact that the school holidays are considered to be a high risk period.

The video and its message has been welcomed by Ishtiaq Ahmed, the president of Bradford Council for Mosques.

Mr Ahmed said: "We need to raise people's awareness of what devastating impact forced marriage can have on individuals and families. There is a strong case for such a campaign but we must make sure that it reflects the balance between what Islam says and what people may choose.

"Islam does not permit forced marriages and people should not be forced into marriage against their will."

In a statement to mark the release of the film, Foreign Office Minister Grant Shapps said: “Forced marriage has no place in the UK. This film demonstrates the full horror of its impact, and our determination to stamp out this brutal practice once and for all - defending victims through full use of the law where necessary.

“We are proud of the work of the FMU and the strong message we send to anyone forcing someone to marry against their will. There is a lot more work to be done, but we are determined to continue working with communities and organisations across the UK both to protect and support victims, but also to punish offenders.”

Councillor Arshad Hussain, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, said:  "Safeguarding young people at risk of Forced Marriage is a high priority In Bradford and any reports are taken very seriously. 

"The National Commission on Forced Marriage visited Bradford in October 2014, the Commission Chair particularly commended the high level of services for victims of all ages. Organisations in Bradford have built up in depth expertise on tackling this issue over a number of years.

"We run specialist multi agency awareness seminars on Forced Marriage and Honour Based violence. We have organised a number of events to highlight the issue, in order to help communities and organisations recognise, respond and protect victims."

Last year the Forced Marriage Unit, run by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office, gave advice or support in 1,267 cases of possible forced marriage in more than 88 different countries. Of these 23 per cent of the cases were domestic, and of these 8.9 per cent related to victims in Yorkshire and Humberside.

In July police figures revealed that 200 incidents relating to forced marriage and honour-based violence in West Yorkshire had been recorded over the previous 12 months.

Between April last year and the end of March this year, the a total of 27 crimes were recorded , including one offence of forced marriage. Over the same period, the police put in place 26 Forced Marriage Protection Orders putting legally-binding conditions on those involved in trying to force another person to marry.

The figures were released to coincide with the first national day of remembrance for victims of so-called ‘honour’ killings. July 14 was the birthday of Bradford-born Shafilea Ahmed who was murdered by her parents after an attempted forced marriage.