Diana meets the writer and campaigner Jasvinder Sanghera in Brussels

10.36.37am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 20th Jul 2010

Diana met the writer and campaigner Jasvinder Sanghera in Brussels recently.

Jasvinder Sanghera has written two bestselling books on the plight of women, and indeed sometimes men, who are forced into traditional marriage which is then upheld by a constraining and sometimes violent concept of family honour which can have devastating results. Jasvinder, a victim of these circumstances herself, has been an active campaigner on these issues. She is the co-founder of Karma Nirvana, a community-based project running a group of refuge centres in the United Kingdom for South Asian women and others fleeing forced marriages. She now lives in North Yorkshire.

Diana said:

"Jasvinder Sanghera is truly an inspirational woman. Her campaign to highlight the plight of not just many South Asian women, but also the many other men and women who are forced into marriage from a young age is impressive. I will be doing my best to help with further awareness raising as I and others hope to arrange an event in the European Parliament on these issues in the near future."