do when faced with a minor who contacts them, to prevent a forced marriage from taking place. It is not known how often consular officials are faced with this issue, and it is not known what advice consular personnel provides U.S. citizens abroad who are faced with this issue. It is worth researching and publicly releasing information on how often U.S. consular personnel are approached with regard to this topic and what their course of action is, and how such cases are eventually resolved (or are not). The “best practices” of the British Foreign Office may be worth replicating to ensure that vulnerable girls can sound the alarm if need be, so authorities can intervene where necessary to help protect women from being flown out of the country to face forced marriages, and assist them abroad to return to the U.S. unharmed. From the information that is publicly available, British practices in this area seem more stringent and proactive than U.S. practices. American courts (like British courts) should be able to offer “forced marriage protection orders” to protect girls and women who face a looming forced marriage. U.S. law enforcement officials, civil servants dealing with issues of women’s rights and education, and Congressional constituent offices should receive statutory guidelines (as in the U.K.) on what to do when a person contacts them who is facing a forced marriage. At the institutional level, existing U.S. child welfare, domestic violence and human trafficking institutions are currently not equipped to protect forced marriage victims or to address their unique needs. Most domestic violence shelters will not accommodate minors, and few service providers are trained or funded to address the issue of forced marriage. In several states, child welfare officials declared that the intended child-brides were not at risk of imminent harm and sent them home, where the girls’ parents promptly severed all contact with advocates and sent the girls to the altar. These resources should be strengthened at the local level, and in dialogue with agencies at the State and Federal level dealing with domestic violence issues." United Kingdom The British government has set up a Forced Marriage Unit, and increased police awareness of forced marriages and honor-related violence. The FMU has a confidential helpline and is the UK’s "one-stop shop" for government policy on forced marriage, coordinating outreach projects and providing support and information to those at risk. Forced-marriage protection orders (possible