An unholy wedlock
An unholy wedlock
2 December 2016
Early and forced marriage became a commonwealth criminal offence in March 2013. Photo: Pedro de Sousa.
Australia’s response to early and forced marriage is still very new compared to other nations such as the United Kingdom. Government agencies, non-government service providers, police, schools, health professionals and other stakeholders are on a steep learning curve to implement best practice in an Australian context.
Early and forced marriage occurs when one party does not freely and fully consent to a marriage because of coercion, threat or deception. Young people may be at-risk of being forcibly married by family members in Australia or overseas, and forced marriage of adults is a practice among many cultures, faiths and communities. It sits within the Australian Government’s anti-slavery framework and became a Commonwealth criminal offence in March 2013.
Early and forced marriage are emerging issues in Australia, with the number of reports rising since it was criminalised. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigated 34 cases of forced marriage between 2013 and 2015, of which 29 were related to persons under the age of 18 (source: Australian Federal Police). Since 2014, the NSW Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) has received 70 reports related to forced marriage.
The Salvation Army’s Trafficking and Slavery Safe House responds to young people at-risk and adults who have been forced to marry. In both scenarios, the coercion involved is usually at the hands of relatives who genuinely believe they are doing what is best for their child/family member. The cost of resisting these efforts for the person who does not want to be married is very high; they risk losing their entire family support structure and extended community networks. A very intense level of support is then needed to help people who leave their family to rebuild a free and independent life.
Freedom Partnership team members (from left) Anil Shrestha, Jenny Stanger, Sydney Hirt and Alison Rahill.
Criminalising forced marriage is only one part of a complex and comprehensive response needed to best support people affected by marriage. At The Salvation Army’s Freedom Partnership, we are committed to an approach that prioritises the social, emotional and cognitive development of young people over a criminal justice response. We also support adults who choose to engage with law enforcement and those who do not. Some examples of people we have been able to help incude:
Amira
Year 11 student Amira was worried her parents would send her overseas to be married, and told her school counsellor. Amira knows her parents have discovered that she has a girlfriend and they do not approve of same-sex relationships. The Freedom Partnership met with Amira and her school counsellor to discuss her options. Amira decided to contact Legal Aid NSW, who assisted her to get a court order that stops her parents from taking her out of the country to be married. Amira made a safety plan and sees her Safe House case worker on a regular basis.
Yasmeen
Nineteen-year-old Yasmeen contacted The Freedom Partnership via the Domestic Violence Line. Yasmeen was forced to marry her husband while on a family holiday overseas last year. Her family was expecting her to sponsor him to come to Australia and leave her job to have children after his arrival. Freedom Partnership staff arranged for Yasmeen to get free legal advice and meet Safe House staff to discuss her situation. Yasmeen decided to move to the Safe House and withdraw the immigration sponsorship of her husband. She has enrolled in a full-time TAFE course, has a new part-time job and is planning to move in with a friend she met at school. She plans to go to university.
Nisha
The Australian Federal Police contacted The Freedom Partnership after meeting with Nisha. Nisha was unsure about what would happen if she didn’t marry the man her parents chose for her. She met with a peer who shared her own experience of being in the same situation. The peer understood Nisha’s family relationships first-hand and the difficulty of going against the wishes of her parents, siblings and others in the community. Nisha decided to leave home and was supported by a Safe House case manager to move into youth accommodation. Nisha says, “Being able to meet with a peer was a turning point; I was able to see that I could have a good life even if I didn’t do what my parents wanted. It was also reassuring to know I wasn’t alone, and that many of the negative things my parents said would happen, didn’t happen.”
If you have information about a person at-risk of early or forced marriage or need help to assist someone who has experienced forced marriage, contact The Freedom Partnership on 02 9466 3570 or email endslavery@aue.salvationarmy.org. If a
child or young person (under 18) is at immediate risk of being taken overseas, contact the Australian Federal Police on
131 AFP and make a mandatory report to your state child welfare authority.
Jenny Stanger is the National Manager of The Salvation Army’s Freedom Partnership to End Modern Slavery (endslavery.salvos.org.au).
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