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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of FCDO Human Rights UK in Holy See

11th June 2012

Forced Marriage Made Illegal

The British Prime Minister David Cameron, Crown copyright

In his 2011 message for World Peace Day, Pope Benedict emphasised the role of the family as “the school of freedom of peace”, the bedrock of our social fabric. His Holiness added that the family founded on marriage was “the expression of the close union and complementarity between a man and a woman”.

The practice of forced marriage, in which one or both spouses do not consent to the marriage but are coerced into it, is the opposite of that peace and complementarity of which Pope Benedict spoke. More than a travesty of the institution of marriage it is, as described by Prime Minister David Cameron in October last year, “a form of slavery” and “completely wrong”. On 8 June, the Prime Minister announced that legislation will be introduced to make forcing someone to marry a criminal offence in England and Wales.

The UK is a global leader on work to tackle forced marriage. It needs to be. The statistics are frightening. Nearly 600 cases have been referred in 2012 alone to the government’s Forced Marriage Unit. 14% of the victims were under 15 years of age. Another 5% involved victims with disabilities. The cases involved victims from over 20 countries, including the UK.

In parallel, the government has signed up to the Council of Europe’s convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CAHVIO). The announcements are part of the UK Government’s “Call to End violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan”. Domestic violence and forced marriage are incompatible with the basic role of the family which should be, in Pope Benedict’s words: “the primary training ground for harmonious relations at every level of coexistence, human, national and international”. My government is determined to eradicate forced marriage and prevent domestic violence wherever possible.

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About Nigel Baker

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as…

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba (2003-6) and then as British Ambassador in La Paz, Bolivia (2007-11). In July 2016, Nigel finished his posting, and is currently back in London.

As the first British Ambassador to the Holy See ever to have a blog, Nigel provided a regular window on what the Embassy and the Ambassador does. The blogs covered a wide range of issues, from Royal and Ministerial visits to Diplomacy and Faith, freedom of religion, human trafficking and climate change.

More on Nigel’s career

Nigel was based in London between 1998 and 2003. He spent two years on European Union issues (for the UK 1998 EU Presidency and on European Security and Defence questions), before crossing St James’s Park to work for three years as The Assistant Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. At St James’s Palace, Nigel worked on international issues, including the management of The Prince of Wales’s overseas visits and tours, on the Commonwealth, interfaith issues, the arts and international development.

Nigel spent much of the early part of his FCO career in Central Europe, after an initial stint as Desk Officer for the Maghreb countries in the Near East and North Africa department (1990-91). Between 1992 and 1996, Nigel served in the British embassies in Prague and Bratislava, the latter being created in 1993 after the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the separate Czech and Slovak Republics.

Nigel joined the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in September 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 he took a two year academic sabbatical to research and write about themes in 18th century European history, being based in Verona but also researching in Cambridge, Paris and Naples. The research followed from Nigel’s time as a student at Cambridge (1985-88) where he read history and was awarded a First Class Honours degree, followed by his MA in 1992.

Before joining the Foreign Office, Nigel worked briefly for the Conservative Research Department in London at the time of the 1989 European election campaign.

Nigel married Alexandra (Sasha) in 1997. They have one son, Benjamin, born in Bolivia in September 2008.

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Council of Europe David Cameron Domestic violence forced marriage pope Prime Minister Slavery uk Women World Peace Day

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