Forced marriage comic made to 'get students talking'

Prof Dr Helen McCabe was involved in the creation of the comic book

A comic book about forced marriages has been created for pupils as young as 13 to help prevent them from happening.

The "I choose" comic, based on research by the University of Nottingham, shares stories of real experiences.

Prof Dr Helen McCabe said the comic was aimed at helping students "navigate" conversations around relationships and control.

The comic has been made free for teachers to download and use in schools.

It addresses relationships, choice, marriage, coercive control, family influence, and explains how people from all backgrounds - including different ethnicities and sexual orientations - can be affected.

The book is based on the work of Dr McCabe, an associate professor of political theory at the University of Nottingham, and Dr Hannah Baumeister, a lecturer in law at Liverpool John Moores University.

Each story is based on a real experience, the University of Nottingham said

It was designed and developed with a number of people and groups, including UK charity Karma Nirvana and was trialled in some Nottingham schools.

Dr McCabe said: "We just really want to get students talking about these kind of issues in a really safe space, so the comic is intended to kind of give them a whole host of initial options to get them talking."

The professor added that the comic, created for pupils aged 13 to 16, aimed to challenge any assumptions about people or communities "we might think are more at risk".

One of the stories depicts a relationship between two young men, one whose parents plan to travel abroad with him, where it is suggested he could be forced to marry a woman.

According to the University of Nottingham, about 300 people asked the UK government-run Forced Marriage Unit for advice in 2022.

But Dr McCabe said that the "exact" number of people forced into marriage in the UK was unknown due to it being a "hidden crime" and victims "feeling they can't come forward" to report it.

She hopes that it will contribute to wider efforts to "eliminate" forced marriages.

The team behind the project also created a teaching pack for schools and teachers.