Forced marriage is a scary reality for some young women. While it might seem alien to most of us that our families would send us away to a foreign country to marry someone we've never met, it is widely known to happen in the UK and other western countries.
Karma Nirvana is a charity that campaigns against honour violence and forced marriage, using its resources to support women who become victims of such unthinkable ordeals. Some years ago, the charity shared an invaluable trick that could help these women to escape their forced marriages, and with recent reports of attempts to sex traffic young girls, it seems relevant to mention again.
Karma Nirvana's advice was simple: if you're being transported somewhere against your will via air travel, find a small spoon and hide it in your knickers.
As a spokesperson for the charity explained back in 2013 when they first publicised the idea: "When they go through security, it will highlight this object in a private area and, if 16 or over, they will be taken to a safe space where they have that one last opportunity to disclose they're being forced to marry."
Karma Nirvana confirmed at the time that they had spoken to numerous people who had used the advice to help them get out of a dangerous situation. Ant that proves it works; for some women, a teaspoon really could mean the difference between freedom for the rest of their lives or not.
Follow Cat on Instagram.
Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. news, features and health. The route to her heart is a simple combination of pasta and cheese (somewhat ironic considering the whole health writing thing), and she finds it difficult to commit to TV series so currently has about 14 different ones on the go.
