NEW legislation has failed to stop forced marriages taking place, according to an Enfield support group.

Ila Bel, from Enfield Saheli, in Fore Street, Edmonton, said her charity was seeing an increasing number of women who were "really messed up” after being forced to marry under Sharia law.

In September, the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act came into effect making forced marriages unlawful, following a campaign by MP Ann Cryer.

At a conference in Westminster organised by Enfield's South Asian Forum, Mrs Cryer said she had been prompted to take action to prevent forced marriages when she realised fathers were asking her for help with visas for new husbands to be brought to Britain, against the will of their daughters.

She said: “I'm pleased I did what I did. We've gone from seeing cases every week or two to every six months. There have been 20 successful prosecutions in the courts.”

One problem highlighted at the conference was that of foreign domestic violence victims having “no recourse to public funds” because they had been married in Britain for less than two years.

Kate Wareing, director of Oxfam's UK Poverty Programme, said: “There are many women who are forced to flee within those two years and therefore are not able to access the services they need and the money they need.

“The situation is so extreme that the police turn to the Home Office to detain the women so they have somewhere else to go.”

She also said equal opportunities legislation had led to some councils withdrawing funding from specialist charities.

On average, a domestic violence victim from an ethnic minority will try to access six more services than white women before they will find one that can help.

Middlesex University professor of Law, Dr Joshua Castallino pointed out that human rights legislation should ensure forced marriages and domestic violence were not tolerated.

He said: “If we don't address this particular issue we are fooling ourselves into believing we take human rights seriously.”

Chairwoman Baroness Uddin who sat on the first working group to look at forced marriages, criticised “self-appointed” community leaders and said white politicians should speak on behalf of the whole community.

She offered to table a question in the House of Lords about women having no recourse to public funds.

Enfield Saheli offers support and advice to women in Enfield, with special emphasis on support for Asian women.For more information, call 020 8373 6218