Helpline
Freedom Charity · Safeguarding and support
Freedom Helpline
Worried about forced marriage, FGM, Dishonour Abuse or another harmful practice? You do not need to have every answer before asking for help. Find the next safe step, whether you are in the UK or abroad.
Contact Freedom Charity
Freedom Charity helpline: 0845 607 0133.
Forced Marriage Unit (FMU): 020 7008 0151 (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm UK time), or [email protected].
For urgent consular assistance to British nationals overseas outside these hours, contact the FCDO on +44 20 7008 5000. Check the official FMU guidance ↗
Freedom’s UK-based helpline is for people concerned about forced marriage, FGM, Dishonour Abuse, virginity testing or related harmful practices, as well as those trying to support them. An immediate response is not guaranteed. If your call is not answered, use the alternative support services listed on this page.
Call charges: the Freedom 0845 number is not a freephone number. A service charge and your network’s access charge may apply. If calling from abroad, 0845 calls may not connect and international charges may apply. For country-specific support, find a local helpline below rather than relying on the UK number.
What happens when you contact us
Information, safeguarding and the next safe route
Freedom can listen, help you understand the issue, explain common safeguarding routes and signpost to the agency with the powers or specialist expertise needed. Freedom does not investigate crimes, make court orders, replace social care or provide medical or legal advice.
Forced marriage
Risk, overseas travel, family pressure, protection orders and Forced Marriage Unit routes. Read Freedom’s forced marriage warning signs, law and help guide.
FGM
Risk, mandatory reporting, FGM Protection Orders, police/social-care routes and NHS support. Read Freedom’s FGM safeguarding and protection guide.
Dishonour Abuse
Family or community control, threats, multiple perpetrators and related harmful practices.
Freedom’s published stories
Why reaching help matters
These accounts have appeared on Freedom Charity’s helpline page. They show why school education, safeguarding and a safe route to specialist help need to work together.
If you are a professional
Freedom can support your thinking — your duties remain yours
Police
Use policing powers, specialist HBA/FGM/FM resources and CPS guidance. Freedom can provide background and safeguarding context.
Social workers
Follow child/adult safeguarding law and local procedures. Do not delegate a statutory decision to a charity helpline.
Teachers
Follow the DSL route and understand the FGM mandatory-reporting duty. Do not call parents first where family may be part of the risk.
Health
Follow professional codes, FGM reporting rules and safeguarding procedures; use specialist NHS care where needed.
Universities
Adult students can face forced marriage, family surveillance and financial control. Coordinate support, safeguarding and security appropriately.
Friends & family
Support the person to reach specialist help. Do not mediate, confront or attempt to gather risky evidence.
Online safety
If your device may be monitored
Use a safer device where possible. Do not assume deleting history, changing passwords or removing tracking software makes you invisible. Sudden changes can alert the person monitoring you or remove evidence. Think about immediate safety first.
Worldwide helplines · international safeguarding
Find help in your country
Freedom is a UK charity. There is no single Freedom emergency helpline for the whole world. If you are outside the UK, use a local emergency number if you are in immediate danger. Local laws, service hours, languages and telephone charges vary.
Any country: adults
Search the NO MORE Global Directory for domestic and sexual violence services by country. It also has FGM-specific resources. Check each provider’s eligibility, opening hours and communication channels.
Any country: children
Child Helpline International lists child and youth helplines by country. It is a directory, not a single global number, and not every country has a helpline.
Australia
1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732; text 0458 737 732. The service is for people in Australia and cannot be accessed from outside Australia. In an emergency call 000.
United States
The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800 799 7233; text START to 88788; web chat on its website. In a life-threatening emergency in the US, call 911.
Ireland
Women’s Aid: 1800 341 900 (24 hours, every day). Supports women experiencing domestic abuse, including coercive control by a partner or former partner. For other abuse or forced-marriage concerns, use the country directory to find an appropriate service.
New Zealand
Women’s Refuge: 0800 733 843 (0800 REFUGE), 24 hours a day. Domestic-violence advice and crisis support for women in New Zealand; you are connected with a local refuge.
Canada — Québec
SOS violence conjugale: 1 800 363 9010, 24/7 for calls made from Québec. Supports people concerned about intimate-partner violence. Outside Québec, consult its Canadian and international services directory; the Québec toll-free number may not connect.
At risk of forced marriage abroad?
For a UK-related forced-marriage concern, the UK Forced Marriage Unit can give advice to anyone in the UK. Overseas consular help may be available to British nationals, including dual nationals, depending on the country and circumstances. Ask the FMU what assistance is possible, particularly if you are a dual national in the country of your other nationality.
Forced Marriage Unit: +44 20 7008 0151 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm UK time); [email protected]. For urgent consular assistance to British nationals overseas outside office hours, call the FCDO on +44 20 7008 5000. These are not worldwide emergency lines for all nationalities.
UK specialist contacts
When another service is the right route
Police: call 999 for immediate danger in the UK. Call 101 for non-emergency police matters. A child protection concern can also be reported to the local council’s children’s social care team.
Forced Marriage Unit: 020 7008 0151 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm UK time) or [email protected]. See the official FMU guidance.
NSPCC: 0808 800 5000 for adults concerned about a child. For concerns about FGM, the NSPCC FGM helpline is 0800 028 3550.
Childline: 0800 1111 for children and young people in the UK; see Childline’s contact options.
National Domestic Abuse Helpline, England (women): 0808 2000 247, freephone 24/7. This service primarily supports women experiencing partner or former-partner abuse and their children. Official details ↗
Scotland — Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline: 0800 027 1234, 24/7. Also text or WhatsApp 07401 288595. Official details ↗
Wales — Live Fear Free: 0808 80 10 800, 24/7 for domestic abuse or sexual violence; Welsh and English available. Text 07860 077333. Official details ↗
Northern Ireland — Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline: 0808 802 1414, free 24/7 for adults aged 18 or over affected by domestic or sexual abuse. Official details ↗
FGM healthcare in England: NHS National FGM Support Clinics support eligible women affected by FGM; specialist paediatric care is also available via UCLH. Access and clinic hours vary.
Freedom’s helpline does not replace these services or a professional’s legal reporting and safeguarding duties.
Freedom’s safeguarding work
Helpline, education and prevention belong together
Freedom’s helpline has formed part of the charity’s work since its early years alongside school education, books, the Freedom App, campaigns and professional training. The purpose is not simply to answer a call but to help a person reach a safer next step.
Freedom Charity
Built to be checked.
Freedom Charity was co-founded in 2009 by Aneeta Prem MBE and Lord Toby Harris. The charity’s public record connects safeguarding, education, books, technology, campaigns, professional training, policy and routes to help. Where Freedom reports its own reach, it labels it as Freedom data; where an external source verifies a milestone, the source is linked.