The education ministry of the German State of Baden-Württemberg has issued an emergency form to schools to help staff respond to possible cases of forced marriage or girls being held abroad against their will after the summer holidays.
In a press release dated July 31, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport stated that if pupils fail to return to lessons without explanation once the holidays end, this can in individual cases raise the suspicion of forced marriage or of being prevented from returning from abroad.
Baden-Württemberg’s summer holidays will last until September 12.
The ministry has provided schools with an emergency form titled “Forced marriage during the holidays – How can you, as someone not directly affected, help?” produced by the women’s rights organisation Terre des Femmes. The German weekly Junge Freiheit reported on the measure on August 24.
The document offers practical guidance for teachers on recognising warning signs and lists specialised advice centres that can assist.
The form is intended to enable schools to act quickly and in the interests of those at risk.
Forced marriage has been a criminal offence in Germany since 2011, under paragraph 237 of the criminal code, which took effect on July 1 that year.
The offence carries a prison sentence of between six months and five years. Lesser cases are punishable by a fine or up to three years.
Taking a person abroad by force, threat or deception in order to force a marriage, or preventing their return for that purpose, is also punishable.
The issue has been highlighted more widely by organisations working with victims.
On June 22, the women’s rights group Solidarity with Women in Distress (SOLWODI), based in Koblenz, western Germany, warned that the summer holiday period is a high-risk time for some girls and young women.
The organisation reported that its specialist advice centres supported 261 people nationwide in 2025 in connection with threatened or completed forced marriages, and a further 91 in cases of threatened or carried-out female genital mutilation (FGM/C).
The group said separately in March that almost 3,000 women approached its advice centres for the first time during 2025, across all the forms of violence it deals with.
“The summer holidays must not become the high season for human-rights violations against girls,” said SOLWODI chair Maria Decker.
She noted that many of those affected look forward to visits to relatives and are unaware that a marriage or genital mutilation may have been arranged.
Both practices remain criminal offences under German law even when carried out abroad against German nationals or residents living in Germany.
SOLWODI advised teachers, school social workers, medical staff, friends and relatives to remain alert to possible warning signs.
These can include strong anxiety about a planned trip abroad, last-minute travel to a family’s country of origin, increasing family control or remarks about an impending engagement or wedding.
Early contact with specialised counselling services is recommended when such concerns arise.
The Stuttgart counselling centre Yasemin recorded about 600 calls for help over the course of a year, according to Junge Freiheit.
Alongside the girls and young women affected, teachers, social workers and others who encounter suspected cases also contact the service.
Yasemin provides support for young women with a migration background who face the threat of forced marriage or other forms of violence carried out in the name of family honour.
Run by the Protestant welfare body Evangelische Gesellschaft Stuttgart and financed from State funds, the centre works with girls and young women aged 12 to 27. It also runs prevention sessions in schools from year seven upwards.
The Baden-Württemberg measure forms part of wider efforts by German authorities and civil society groups to address the risk that family holidays can be used as a cover for Heiratsverschleppung (marriage abduction), in which young people are taken abroad and then prevented from returning.
