Transnational Marriage Abandonment: When Abuse Crosses Borders
What is Transnational Marriage Abandonment? A British girl leaves home believing she is going on holiday.
Months later, her passport has gone. Someone has taken her phone. She has no money, no freedom and no realistic way of returning to the UK.
This is transnational marriage abandonment. It is a form of domestic abuse that can trap victims thousands of miles away from the people, schools, services and systems that could protect them.
Borders must not become tools of abuse.
Why this matters now
In June 2026, Members of the House of Lords raised transnational marriage abandonment and questioned whether the current legal framework does enough to protect victims.
During the debate, the Government said it monitors applications under the transnational marriage abandonment route. It reported 82 applications in 2024 and 69 in 2025.
Those figures matter. However, they do not show prevalence. They only show the people who knew about the route, reached help and managed to apply. Many victims may never appear in any dataset.
What is transnational marriage abandonment?
The Home Office recognises transnational marriage abandonment within the domestic abuse framework.
It can happen when a partner, sponsor or family member leaves someone overseas and then uses documents, money, immigration dependency, threats or isolation to stop that person returning to the UK.
The word “abandonment” can sound passive. In many cases, the abuse is planned.
A person may hear that the trip is for a holiday, wedding, funeral, family visit or reconciliation. Once overseas, the situation changes. Someone takes the passport. Access to a phone disappears. Money is controlled or removed. The victim may then hear that their visa has ended, their children will stay with relatives, or the family will reject them if they try to return.
That is not ordinary abandonment. It is control.
Tamara’s story
Tamara is not her real name.
After leaving the UK for what she believed was a family matter, she found herself under increasing pressure. A forced marriage followed, arranged within the extended family.
Soon afterwards, the control tightened. Her passport disappeared. She lost access to her phone and money. With no independent way to contact anyone in the UK, she became dependent on the same family network that controlled her.
Eventually, she heard a cruel promise: she could return to the UK once she became pregnant.
That promise was broken.
Pregnancy must never become a condition of freedom. When a girl or young woman is taken abroad, married under pressure, cut off from communication and stopped from returning, she is not simply “living overseas”. Instead, she may be trapped, controlled and isolated from the systems that could protect her.
Founder’s comment
Aneeta Prem MBE JP, founder of Freedom Charity, said:
“Too many girls leave the UK with passports, rights and futures, and then disappear into a system of family control overseas.
They are told it is a holiday, a wedding, a family visit, or a chance to make things right. Once they arrive, everything changes. Their passport goes. Their phone disappears. Their money is controlled. In-laws or relatives may decide where they sleep, who they speak to, whether they leave the house, and whether they ever come home.
Some are expected to cook, clean and serve the household from morning until night. Meanwhile, others are watched constantly or told they have shamed the family if they ask to return. Some hear that they can come back to the UK only after pregnancy or childbirth, and then even that promise is broken.
That is not marriage. That is control.
When a girl or young woman is trapped overseas without documents, money, communication or freedom of movement, professionals must recognise the risk of domestic servitude, forced marriage and coercive control. It is not enough to say she has ‘moved abroad’. Nor is it enough to accept a family explanation without question.
These are British girls and young women. They may be UK citizens or have lived most of their lives here. Crossing a border does not place them beyond our concern.
Safeguarding cannot stop at the airport. If a young person wanted to come home tomorrow, could she do so freely, safely and without permission from those controlling her? If the answer is no, we should already be worried.
Borders must not become tools of abuse. Passports must not become weapons. Pregnancy must never be used as the price of freedom.”
Why Freedom Charity is concerned
Freedom Charity works to protect people from forced marriage, female genital mutilation, dishonour abuse and related forms of coercion.
Transnational marriage abandonment belongs within that safeguarding landscape because it often combines several harms at once. It may overlap with forced marriage, immigration status abuse, dowry abuse, domestic abuse, coercive control, child safeguarding concerns and threats linked to so-called honour.
The common thread is not culture. It is control.
Why professionals miss these cases
Professionals may wrongly assume that a girl or woman chose to stay abroad, married willingly, moved permanently, or remains safe because a family member says so.
Those assumptions create danger.
Often, the victim has no passport, phone, money, safe accommodation or independent access to legal advice. In addition, relatives may monitor her movements, restrict who she speaks to, or threaten violence, divorce, destitution, deportation, loss of children or family rejection.
Silence does not prove consent. Equally, delay does not prove safety. For that reason, a family explanation should never replace professional curiosity.
Warning signs before travel
The safest intervention often happens before someone leaves the UK.
Professionals should act where overseas travel seems sudden, unexplained or controlled by someone else. Risk may increase after domestic abuse, separation, pregnancy, divorce discussions, family conflict, immigration dependency or pressure to “sort things out” abroad.
Warning signs may include:
• unclear return dates
• one-way tickets
• passports held by someone else
• no independent access to money
• sudden school, college or work absence
• fear about travelling
• pressure to marry or reconcile
• children removed from school unexpectedly
• threats about shame, family honour, divorce, immigration status or custody
One sign may not prove abuse. However, a pattern should trigger safeguarding action.
The children are not peripheral
Children can become leverage.
For example, a victim may hear that returning to the UK means losing contact with her children. In some cases, an abusive partner or wider family may keep a child abroad to punish one parent. Meanwhile, a mother may remain stranded while children stay under the control of relatives.
Schools may notice absence before any agency recognises domestic abuse. Therefore, safeguarding must ask practical questions.
Where are the children? Who has parental responsibility? Who holds the passports? Did the school hear that the child would leave permanently or temporarily? Does the non-abusive parent have safe contact? Has anyone spoken to the child alone?
When abuse crosses borders, child protection must not stop at the airport.
Victims may be British citizens
Some people wrongly see transnational marriage abandonment as only an immigration issue.
That is incorrect.
Victims may be British citizens, dual nationals, or people who have lived in the UK for most of their lives. British citizenship does not stop someone being trapped overseas through coercion, family pressure, document control or abuse.
A person can hold rights on paper and still have no freedom in practice.
Men and boys can also be affected
Women and girls face disproportionate risk from forced marriage and related abuse. However, men and boys can also become victims.
Every person has the right to choose whether to marry, the right to refuse abuse, and the right to return safely when others try to control or strand them overseas.
Myths and realities
Myth: She chose to stay abroad
Reality: She may have no passport, no phone, no money and no safe way to leave.
Myth: It is a private family matter
Reality: Transnational marriage abandonment sits within the domestic abuse framework.
Myth: Nothing can be done because she is overseas
Reality: Early safeguarding action, specialist advice and legal routes may still help.
Myth: If she has not asked for help, she must be safe
Reality: Relatives may monitor, threaten, isolate or silence her.
Myth: Marriage means consent
Reality: A forced marriage is not consent. Pressure, threats, deception and coercion remove free choice.
What the CPS guidance shows
The Crown Prosecution Service has updated its guidance on so-called honour-based abuse. It now includes harmful practices such as immigration-related exploitation, dowry abuse, spiritual or ritual abuse, virginity testing, hymenoplasty and transnational marriage abandonment.
That recognition matters. These cases rarely present as one neat allegation. Instead, they may involve intimidation, threats, document control, financial abuse, coercion, isolation and wider family pressure.
In England and Wales, no single offence is called transnational marriage abandonment. Even so, the conduct may still fall within existing offences, safeguarding duties and protective orders, depending on the facts.
Professionals should not wait for perfect terminology before acting.
What professionals should do?transnational Marriage Abandonment
Professionals should treat suspected transnational marriage abandonment as a safeguarding concern, not a family disagreement.
Do not mediate with relatives where forced marriage, dishonour abuse or abandonment may be present. Mediation can increase risk by alerting those responsible and removing the victim’s chance to seek help safely.
Instead, speak to the person alone. Ask who controls their passport, travel, money and phone. Ask whether they know the return date. Ask whether they feel safe going abroad. Also ask what would happen if they refused to travel.
Where immediate danger exists, follow safeguarding procedures and contact police. Where forced marriage may be involved, seek specialist advice urgently. Legal advice may also be needed before travel, especially where children, immigration status, passports or protective orders are involved.
Professional checklist
Schools and colleges
Act on sudden absence, unexplained overseas travel, fear about holidays, removal from education, or pressure to marry.
Health professionals
Look for fear, control, pregnancy under pressure, isolation, or a patient who cannot speak without relatives present.
Police
Consider forced marriage, domestic abuse, coercive control, child safeguarding, document control and threats linked to overseas travel.
Social workers
Ask whether travel is safe, voluntary and understood. Also consider whether children may be used as leverage.
Housing and welfare professionals
Recognise that victims may be unable to return because someone has taken documents, detained them, or removed any safe route back.
Immigration and legal advisers
Consider domestic abuse, forced marriage, abandonment, children and protective orders wherever overseas control appears in the facts.
Freedom Charity’s position
Transnational marriage abandonment is not a loophole in safeguarding. It warns us that abuse can move across borders faster than systems respond.
Freedom Charity believes professionals must recognise the pattern early. A person should not have to become stranded overseas before agencies understand the danger.
Borders must not silence victims. Passports must not become instruments of control. Immigration status must not become a weapon. Pregnancy must never become the price of return.
Freedom begins with the right to choose, the right to refuse and the right to return home safely. No child, young person or adult should lose those freedoms because abuse has crossed an international border.
Getting help
If you are worried that you, your child, a student, patient, friend or family member may face forced marriage, dishonour abuse, FGM or transnational marriage abandonment, seek specialist advice as early as possible.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.
Freedom Charity provides advice and support on forced marriage, dishonour abuse and harmful practices.
Freedom Charity helpline: [insert current helpline number]
Website: www.freedomcharity.org.uk
Read More
Forced Marriage:
https://freedomcharity.org.uk/forced-marriage/
Immigration Status Abuse:
https://freedomcharity.org.uk/immigration-status-abuse/
Dishonour Abuse:
https://freedomcharity.org.uk/dishonour-abuse/
Hansard, House of Lords debate, 18 June 2026:
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2026-06-18/debates/E3DE2748-C8C6-45CF-9B4C-977A3A20E52B/TransnationalMarriageAbandonment
Home Office, Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/victims-of-domestic-violence/appendix-victim-of-domestic-abuse-accessible
CPS guidance update on so-called honour-based abuse:
https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/spiritual-and-immigration-abuse-included-cps-honour-based-abuse-guidance-first-time
DWP guidance on victims of forced marriage and transnational marriage abandonment:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housing-benefit-adjudication-circulars-2024/a22024-victims-of-forced-marriage-and-victims-of-transnational-marriage-abandonment
FAQs
What is transnational marriage abandonment?
Transnational marriage abandonment is a form of domestic abuse where a person becomes stranded overseas and cannot return to the UK because of document control, immigration dependency, financial abuse, coercive family pressure or isolation.
Is transnational marriage abandonment domestic abuse?
Yes. UK Home Office guidance recognises transnational marriage abandonment within the domestic abuse framework.
Can transnational marriage abandonment happen with forced marriage?
Yes. It can overlap with forced marriage, dishonour abuse, immigration status abuse, dowry abuse and coercive control.
What are the warning signs?
Warning signs include sudden overseas travel, unclear return dates, controlled passports, loss of phone access, no independent money, fear of refusing travel, immigration threats, family pressure and children removed from school unexpectedly.
What should professionals do?
Professionals should treat concerns as safeguarding issues, speak to the person alone, avoid family mediation, consider forced marriage and domestic abuse risks, and seek specialist advice early.
Can British citizens be victims?
Yes. Victims may be British citizens, dual nationals, or people who have lived in the UK for most of their lives. Rights on paper do not always mean freedom in practice.
About the author
Aneeta Prem MBE JP is the founder of Freedom Charity, an author, magistrate and human rights campaigner. She has worked for many years to protect children and adults from forced marriage, female genital mutilation, dishonour abuse and harmful practices. Freedom Charity provides specialist education, prevention and safeguarding support across the UK.
Aneeta Prem London, 26 June 2026