Hanisha Patel

Hanisha Patel is a barrister at 7 Bedford Row and is also the chair of the Association of Asian Women Lawyers. Hanisha is a family practitioner who has experience of both public and private law family proceedings. Hanisha has a particular interest in forced marriage cases and has been instructed on behalf of the police, local authorities and applicants themselves in respect of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and appears regularly in the High Court. Her ongoing multi-party forced marriage caseload includes complex issues involving mental capacity of vulnerable adults and criminal allegations on behalf of child victims of forced marriage. Hanisha has published numerous articles on this topic together with Rachel Langdale QC, Anne-Marie Hutchinson (Dawson Cornwell) and Jasvinder Sanghera (Karma Nirvana) and has provided training to the police, local authorities and charitable organisations including Women’s Aid. In addition, through her role as chair of the Association of Asian Women Lawyers, Hanisha has been instrumental in organising ‘awareness-raising’ events nationally on forced marriage. Hanisha’s profile appears in the publication ‘Black Letter Law’ acknowledging achievement in the law.