Data provided by the General Directorate of Police of the Department of Interior reveals the persistence of forced marriages and female genital mutilation (FGM) in Catalonia. Since 2021, the Catalan police have prevented 47 forced unions and intervened in nine cases that had already been consummated. The majority of the complaints are filed by the affected women or girls themselves.
Regarding the victims, seven cases of forced marriages were registered in 2024, five of which involved minors. These cases were detected through various channels, including social services, local police, the educational sector, relatives, and the victims themselves.
Although the violence persists, cases of women suffering forced marriages have decreased in the last two years, with 15 cases in 2022 and 18 in 2023.
This downward trend is reflected in the investigations opened in 2023, when the Mossos opened 15 files, managing to prevent 16 marriages out of the 18 identified victims, seven of whom were minors. It should be noted that, since 2014, only three files have been registered regarding men forced to marry, the last one in May of last year in Lleida.
Concerning female genital mutilation, officers assisted 12 girls or women during 2024. In 10 of these cases, the practice was successfully prevented, while in two cases it had already been carried out in the victim's country of origin.
