There are many types of citizenship action, for example, raising awareness in both the local and wider community, through things like posters, presentations in school assemblies and form times, and charity events. As a small group of students we could: write to the local MP (because he could possibly raise the issue in the House of Commons) and the local paper (as they could print something that reaches the local community of High Wycombe), and post various awareness posters on social networking sites. This would mean that people outside of our school, i.e. the wider community, would be aware of how important this issue is, and could contribute to making a difference nationally, and even possibly internationally. Raising awareness of forced marriage will help those that have been put in difficult positions, even if it is in a non-direct way, as if everybody in the community is informed, they may be more mindful of any suspicious behavior, and so are more likely to report the incident and save lives. .
Once the message has reached our local community (High Wycombe), it will be easier for us, and any others willing to help, to tell friends and relatives all across the country, and for those friends and relatives to do the same across more of the country, and even the rest of the world, to raise awareness internationally. Despite this, the ultimate power lies out of our hands, as we would need people with powerful contacts and influence to make a significant difference, i.e. our local council, the government and other adult professionals. We would need them as they have voting power and access to money that can fund campaigning, that can affect things more than we could. Another way that could help victims everywhere, would be to target our campaigning at airports, as this is where a lot of parents think they have escaped the authorities, as other countries may have different laws and regulations concerning forced marriage.
