More than one-third of women from black and ethnic minority backgrounds have been affected by forced marriage, according to research.

The study. commissioned by a range of agencies including Strathclyde Police and Glasgow City Council, found that both women and men had been forced into marriages and that many of them had subsequently suffered domestic abuse.

The women interviewed across Glasgow described a number of examples including friends taken to Pakistan and made to sign marriage papers and a disabled girl forced to marry a Pakistani man who now abuses her.

Almost half of those interviewed felt that men and women stay in forced marriages because of family pressure and honour. Few of the women interviewed knew where to go to get help or support in relation to problems with forced marriages.

Mrs Nusrat Gaza, outreach worker with Hemat Gryffe, which provide support, refuge and counselling to victims of domestic abuse, said her own organisation deals with about 30 women a year who have gone through a forced marriage.

"Sometimes it is three a week, sometimes it is none in a month," she said. "And we are not the only organisation providing support. We do not want the law changed but we do need more resources to provide a better safety net for victims.

"We do not think domestic abuse is any more prevalent among people from a black or ethnic minority background but it is different.

"Often it involves mother-in-law and the whole family and the research reflects this. It is not just from the partner but potentially from the in-laws and grandparents."

Recent research, conducted in a support project in Edinburgh, found 60 cases of forced marriages over three years. Only one of them was reported to police.

The Home Office deals with 300 cases a year but believes this is just the "tip of the iceberg".

Although there is no specific law outlawing forced marriage, anyone found guilty of forcing someone into marriage can be prosecuted for kidnap, false imprisonment or rape.

In the Scottish study, some 94% of women interviewed thought that domestic abuse was happening in black and ethnic minority communities and had either experienced abuse or knew someone who had. Each participant on average knew of six women experiencing domestic abuse.

Some 59% were still in abusive relationships and cited a range of reasons including language barriers, their religion and culture and financial concerns.

Despite the research findings only one case has been reported to Strathclyde Police in the past three years.

Superintendent Alex MacDonald, head of diversity for Strathclyde, said: "There is a big challenge for us in getting to the root causes of why people are not reporting forced marriage to the police. There is a huge pressure put on victims not to report to the police. Groups in the voluntary sector have a huge role to play in encouraging people to come forward and we have to provide cast iron assurances that any report will be treated confidentially."