New film on forced marriages and people with learning disabilities
A documentary about what forced marriage means for adults with learning disabilities has been made involving expertise from Leicester.
Dr Gareth Morgan, Clinical lecturer on the Clinical Psychology programme (College of Life Sciences), contributed to the film which is part of the My Marriage My Choice project, led by  Rachael Clawson at the University of Nottingham, in collaboration with colleagues at University of Kent, at RESPOND and Ann Craft Trust.
The film is directed at all stakeholder groups that have participated in the ‘My Marriage My Choice’ research project –including professionals, families, faith and community leaders and people with learning disabilities.
Dr Morgan offered his views in an interview for the film which is released this month. He was also invited by the same project team to contribute towards new guidelines for professionals to assess capacity to consent to marriage for people with learning disabilities.
Dr Morgan said: “By law, if a person lacks capacity to consent to marriage, then any marriage of that person would need to be classed as a forced marriage. Up until now, there had been no guidelines for professionals with regards to how such assessments should be conducted, what types of questions to ask, and what type of knowledge needs to be assessed. It is hoped that the guidelines will be a valuable resource for professionals undertaking such assessments’
The film and other resources from the project were launched in London on 29 March.