The Victorian Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Coalition
“The Choice Is Yours!”
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
By: Safa Almarhoun & Hala Nasr
Prepared under the supervision of VIRWC CEO Melba Marginson
Presented at the
The UNAA Status of Women Network’s Roundtable on August 8, 2013
Table of Contents
Introduction
2
Forced Marriage: Definitions and Manifestations
4
Forced Marriage Indicators
5
Impact of Forced Marriages
6
International Law and the Australian Context
8
VIRWC Women’s Friendship Groups
9
VIRWC ARIES Service’s Case Studies
10
VIRWC ARIES Service
10
Beyond Criminalisation to Education
11
Recommendations
13
Reference List
15
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
“Forced Marriage and Forced labour have no place
in a modern and democratic nation like Australia”
Former Federal Attorney General of Australia, Nicola Roxon
Introduction
Forced marriage is a human rights abuse, affecting individuals from many different
communities, cultures and religions. The right to freely enter or leave marriage is central to
an individual’s life, to their dignity and their equality as a human being. The denial of choice
perpetuates stereotypes of female subordination and restricts women from fulfilling their
educational, skill and career potential, and evidently, from fully participating and contributing
to society. Little is known about the extent of forced marriage in Australia; however, it is
known the victims are predominately young females. This report provides a brief overview of
the issues pertaining to the practice of forced marriage in general, a contextualisation and
critique of the local response in Australia, the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s
Coalition (VIRWC) experience with forced marriages as a grassroots organization, sample
case studies provided by the VIRWC from its Advice, Referral, Information and Educational
Support (ARIES) service, followed by the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s
Coalition (VIRWC) policy recommendation, which argues Australia needs to broaden the
scope of its response to forced marriage to non-legislative measures, particularly educational
campaigns.
VIRWC is a peak representative body for migrant, refugee and other multicultural women in
Victoria. The coalition provides leadership training, representation, capacity building support
and advice, for a range of organisations whose priority is the development and support of
immigrant and refugee women. The nature of our membership ranges from small, informal
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Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
grassroots based social groups to large, co-ordinated service providers. The activities of our
member organizations are varied. These groups and organisations facilitate or provide:

Advocacy, advice and representation.

Information, community education and training that will assist migrant and refugee
women in becoming independent and well-informed so that they can make better
decisions for themselves, their families and communities.

Referral of women escaping family violence and other settlement-related issues to
appropriate services.

Opportunities for connection, including regular meetings, social get-togethers,
recreational activities and more formal events.

Referral links into mainstream services and mainstream organisations

Opportunities to develop skills and to participate as organizers, leaders, contributors
within their own cultural communities and the broader community.

First stop enquiry facility – our member organisations are usually the FIRST place
that women request information or express concerns about issues central to their lives.
The Victorian Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Coalition was able to identify the extent of the
issue of Forced Marriages in Victoria through the following:

The Women Building Bridges project that oversee the running of at least 12 Women’s
Friendship Groups that are spread across Metropolitan Melbourne and are aimed at
women from migrant and refugee backgrounds. These groups of women have aided
the VIRWC in identifying the different practices that are in the community and need
urgent attention such as forced marriages.

The cases from the previous Advice, Referral, Information and Educational Support
(ARIES) service that the VIRWC ran successfully for 2 years. After analyzing the 195
cases which helped the women with different problems ranging from domestic
3
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
violence, to depression and much more, we were able to link these problems to the
women’s experiences of forced and arranged marriages.
Forced Marriage: Definitions and Manifestations
It is generally agreed to that forced marriage is undertaken under duress, where there is no
full and free consent by one or both of the individuals.1Duress involves physical, financial, or
psychological violence to frighten the victim into subservience.
2
While it is important to
raise awareness by providing a clear definition of forced marriage, it is essential to avoid
limiting the definition to the element of individual consent, as there are several elements
involved in the issue of consent where several extended family members are involved. The
realities of forced marriage are exceedingly more complex than this; consent existing along a
spectrum of coercive practices, embedded within unequal power relations.3Arranged
marriages differ from forced marriages in that the family selects potential suitors for the
individual, ultimately leaving the final decision of acceptance or rejection to them.4
Mainstream organisations, such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Funds (UNICEF), tend to also combine
child marriage with forced marriage. VIRWC argues that while an overwhelming majority of
forced marriages occur under the age 18 years, the reduction of forced marriage to being
primarily an issue faced by children excludes those at-risk individuals older than 18 years.
In some regions, forced marriage is a deeply entrenched socio-economic institution,
enshrined in ‘religion’ or ‘cultural tradition.’ Despite there being a number of reinforcing
1
Chantler, “Recognition of and Intervention in Forced Marriage as a Form of Violence and Abuse,” Trauma,
Violence and Abuse 13, no. 3 (2012): 176
2
Chantler, “Recognition of and Intervention in Forced Marriage as a Form of Violence and Abuse,” 176
3
Ibid., 177; Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” Melbourne University Law
Review 36 (2013): 973
4
Chantler, “Recognition of and Intervention in Forced Marriage as a Form of Violence and Abuse,” 176
4
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
factors perpetuating its practice in the West, the main reason is arguably “fear of the
alternative.”5
“Spilled water on the doorstep is very dangerous: anything can happen”
- Nepalese proverb, implies risk involved with keeping daughter unmarried.
Those within these immigrant communities face social pressure to maintain and conform to
traditional gendered cultural or religious norms of marriage and sexuality, to honour longstanding family commitments in the case of betrothals6 or risk ridicule and family shaming.
Forced marriage, then, becomes a way of controlling youth behavior to preserve family
honour.7 In addition, at-risk individuals are often coerced into marrying for economic or
immigration-related reasons, whether to ensure financial stability, receive citizenship for the
individual or for the spouse to-be.8
Forced Marriage Indicators
There are many indicators which can be used to identify situations, as individuals under
threat of forced marriage rarely disclose information or seek help from services. At-risk
individuals may exhibit symptoms of anxiety, self-harm or depression, particularly in the lead
up to the forced marriage.9 Students may even be withdrawn from education, which restricts
their personal development, limiting their career and educational opportunities. This renders
5
WHO and UNFPA, “Married Adolescents: No Place of Safety”, 17. Accessed from:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2006/9241593776_eng.pdf .
6
WHO and UNFPA, “Married Adolescents: No Place of Safety”, 17
7
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 976; International Planned Parenthood
Federation and the Forum on Marriage and the Rights of Women and Girls (2006).“Ending child marriage -A
guide for global policy action.” Accessed
from:http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/662_filename_endchildmarriage.pdf
8
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 976
9
UK Forced Marriage Unit.“Multi-agency Practice Guidelines: Handling Cases of Forced Marriage,” 12.
Accessed
from:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/35530/forcedmarriage-guidelines09.pdf
5
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
them financially dependent on their caregivers and ultimately their future husband.10
Community workers, including teachers, health practitioners and police, should be made
aware of these indicators, their obligations and the “one chance” rule. They are likely to have
only one chance to connect with potential victims, and thus may have only one chance to help
them before the marriage is finalised.11
Impact of Forced Marriage
The impact of forced marriage is felt not only at the individual level, but also has far reaching
societal consequences. Gender discrimination and violence is both a cause and consequence
of forced marriage.12 Studies have shown girls and women in forced marriages are more
likely to be subject to various human rights abuses, such as domestic violence (psychological,
financial or physical), sexual assault, rape, servitude, imprisonment and estrangement from
friends and family.13 The degree of exploitation differs from context to context. While
violence is prevalent regardless of age, a study carried about by Raja et al argued that
domestic violence is significantly more likely to occur in adolescent marriages, which is
relevant, as most forced marriages occur to women under the age of 18 years old.14 It was
found more than 2 in 5 Indian women who were married as adolescents were abused by their
husbands. The cycle of violence becomes enshrined in the marital relationship with wives
experiencing domestic violence right into adulthood.15 Detrimental health consequences also
include depression, self-harm and the dangers associated with early sexual initiation and early
pregnancy. ‘Gynaecological age’ is the number of years since a girl begins menstruating, and
10
UK Forced Marriage Unit.“Multi-agency Practice Guidelines: Handling Cases of Forced Marriage,” 12
Ibid., 14
12
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 973
13
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 974-6
14
Raja et. al. “Association between adolescent marriage and marital violence among young adult women in
India.”International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 110 (2010): 38. Accessed from:
http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/science/article/pii/S0020729210000937
15
Raja et. al. “Association between adolescent marriage and marital violence among young adult women in
India,” 38
11
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Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
those with an age of less than two years from puberty are at higher risk of obstructed
labour.16 Prolonged labour can lead to permanent disability by fistulae.17 This is because their
bodies are not physically ready for child-birth, let alone psychologically ready.18
Hypertension and anaemia are also common problems experienced with adolescent
pregnancy.19
Figure 1: UK FMU, (2009). “Multi-agency Practice Guidelines: Handling Cases of Forced
Marriage,” 15
16
WHO and UNFPA, “Married Adolescents: No Place of Safety”, 22
WHO and UNFPA, “Married Adolescents: No Place of Safety”, 23
18
WHO and UNFPA, “Married Adolescents: No Place of Safety”, 22
19
WHO and UNFPA, “Married Adolescents: No Place of Safety”, 23
17
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Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
International Law and the Australian context
“Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.”
- (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 16(2))
In Australia, the practice of forced marriage is framed overwhelmingly in the context of
international obligation to the protection of human rights. The human rights framework is
critical to bringing an end to forced marriage, as it establishes prevention and empowerment
as foundational to service design.20 While there is no authoritative definition of forced
marriage in international law, “free and full consent by both parties” is enshrined in
international agreements, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (refer to Source A).21 Australia also signed the
Convention on the Celebration and Recognition of the Validity of Marriages, which allows
Australia to refuse to recognise a marriage entered into without full consent.22 Therefore the
government has a duty to translate these laws into national legislation, but more importantly
to implement mechanisms to prevent the practice of forced marriage and protect victims of
forced marriage, regardless of immigration status.23 The legislative response to Australia’s
international obligations was to criminalise forced marriage through the Crimes Legislation
Amendment Act 2012.24 According to the Act, it is a forced marriage if, due to coercion,
threat, or deception, one party entered into the marriage without freely and fully consenting.25
Two subsections to the Act target and punish those who engage, directly or indirectly, in
20
International Planned Parenthood Federation and the Forum on Marriage and the Rights of Women and
Girls, “Ending child marriage -A guide for global policy action,” 21
21
Ibid.; Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 980-1
22
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 980-1
23
International Planned Parenthood Federation and the Forum on Marriage and the Rights of Women and
Girls, “Ending child marriage -A guide for global policy action,” 27
24
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 990
25
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 992
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Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
conduct that leads to a forced marriage, and also punishing the party who entered the forced
marriage by choice (i.e. not the victim).26
Key International Human Rights instruments relating to Forced Marriage
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Article 16
• Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and
Practices Similar to Slavery (1956) Article 1(c)
• Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
(1964) Articles 1, 2 and 3
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979)
Articles 2 and 16
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976) Article 12 and 15
Figure 2: Key International Human Rights instruments relating to forced marriage
VIRWC Women’s Friendship Groups
Nearly two years ago the VIRWC embarked on one of its most successful core projects, the
Women Building Bridges Project. As a result of this project, several Friendship Groups were
formed in the two most CALD community populated regions of Melbourne, which are the
South Eastern and North Western regions. These groups created a private and secure space
for women from the community to get together once a week for different activities and
programs. One of the issues that the VIRWC Project Leaders and Community Development
Officers were able to identify in the community was the issue of arranged and forced
marriages. As a result, the VIRWC embarked to work on the issue of arranged and forced
marriages from an education and prevention approach. The first step to this approach was to
analyze the cases from the ARIES service that the VIRWC ran for two years.
26
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 991-2
9
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
VIRWC ARIES Service’s Case Studies
Case Study 1
K is a 30 year old woman from a multicultural background; she was referred to our drop in
centre by another organization. She is an Australian citizen; her parents and family arranged
her marriage in her home country. K was subjected to physical, mental and financial abuse,
including stalking and isolation by her current husband. He refused to allow her to visit her
family members or have access to any money of her own. K’s family was also stalked by
members of K’s husbands’ family. Her family was also subjugated to dowry harassment by
K’s husbands’ family. Such harassment is generally understood to mean requests for more
money, jewelry and gifts after the wedding.
Case Study 2
J is a woman from a multicultural background in her 20s; she was married to P overseas and
then moved to Australia with him. J did not want to marry P and the marriage was forced and
organized by P’s uncle. After moving to Australia J experienced violence on the hands of P
and his extended family members, the abuse ranged from controlling her behavior, to forcing
her to do all the house work and to points where she would be forced to sleep on the floor as
a form of punishment. She had no access to her wages as all of her wages were paid into her
husband’s bank account. J was not allowed to speak to any of her family members overseas
nor was she allowed to access her educational certificates, jewelry, passport or Medical Card.
VIRWC ARIES Service
The VIRWC Advice, Referral, Information and Educational Support (ARIES) service, ran
successfully for five years. Through this service, the VIRWC was able to support nearly two
hundred migrant and refugee women, regardless of their visa status. The above mentioned
10
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
case studies are simple examples of the kind of abuse women from migrant and refugee
backgrounds experience when entering into arranged and forced marriages regardless of their
age. Each case is unique in its own, but there is an overwhelming recurring trend which links
the abuse they’re experiencing to the fact that the majority of them have entered into arranged
marriages at a very young age where they did not understand the full extent of the marriage
or they have been forced into the marriage by their parents or extended family members.
The most complicated cases of all are the ones who are not only experiencing physical,
mental, financial and emotional abuse but also immigration threats. Several of these women
have entered Australia on spousal visas after marrying overseas. As the Department of
Immigration and Citizenship needs to assess the validity of the marriage for a probation
period of nearly two years, this leaves the women who have been in arranged or forced
marriages, exposed to all forms of abuse, using their non-resident status as a threat. The most
common threat is “If you do not obey me, I will cancel your visa and have you deported back
to your home country in shame”. The latter is seen in the majority of cases assessed by the
VIRWC ARIES service.
Beyond Criminalisation to Education
The criminalisation approach is problematic as it cannot respond to the root causes of forced
marriage. Through the reduction of the practice of forced marriage to the presence versus
absence binary of consent at the point of marriage, the State ignores and does little to provide
victims facing the tormenting social and economic realities of physical, financial and
psychological violence with the tools necessary for avoiding or leaving forced marriages.27
Academic research and empirical evidence from the UK, which currently has the most
27
Simmons and Burn, “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia,” 990-1
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Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
comprehensive policies and practice guidelines on forced marriage,28 has shown that given
the multifaceted nature of the practice of forced marriage, individual empowerment and
multi-sectoral community mobilization are the most effective means of promoting social
change.29 VIRWC believes it is imperative the priority now become protection and
prevention – protection of victims through the creation of institutional mechanisms and
support networks and prevention of forced marriage through investment in educational
campaigns to train community workers and empower at-risk individuals.
An educational campaign is important for four main reasons:
1. A major problem facing at-risk individuals of forced marriage is isolation.30 They
may not trust others to keep the secret from their family, have no one to speak to, or
even be able to speak English.31 It, therefore, empowers at-risk individuals with
knowledge of the law and options to safely avoid or escape forced marriage.
2. It acts to dispel problematic misconceptions surrounding forced marriage, which may
act as barriers to access help. For example,a popular misconception understands
forced marriage as a ‘cultural issue’. Numerous studies, such as that by Natcen and
the UK Ministry of Justice, reveal the reason police do not criminally sanction some
perpetrators is due to fear of offending minorities and being perceived as ‘racist’ or
‘culturally insensitive.’32 By ‘othering’ the victim, the state places them outside the
scope of mainstream agencies, creating a sense of powerlessness for local authorities,
including school staff, health practitioners and police.33
28
Chantler, “Recognition of and Intervention in Forced Marriage as a Form of Violence and Abuse,” 176
International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) (2007).“New Insights on Preventing Child Marriage: A
Global Analysis of Factors and Programs.,” 42. Accessed from:http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/NewInsights-on-Preventing-Child-Marriage.pdf; International Planned Parenthood Federation and the Forum on
Marriage and the Rights of Women and Girls, “Ending child marriage -A guide for global policy action,” 29-30
30
UK Forced Marriage Unit.“Multi-agency Practice Guidelines: Handling Cases of Forced Marriage,” 12
31
Ibid.
32
Chantler, “Recognition of and Intervention in Forced Marriage as a Form of Violence and Abuse,” 180
33
Ibid.
29
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Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
3. It allows those working in the community, particularly teachers, to notice indicators of
forced marriage, such as changes in behaviour, performance and school attendance.
Awareness of these indicators is foundational to ensuring the prevention of forced
marriage.
4. It allows for the engagement rather than the demonisation of specific communities
who are affected by the practice of forced marriage. Demonisation or victim-blaming
will result in the at-risk individuals and the community at large rejecting involvement
in educational campaigns. Accordingly, the issue of forced marriage should be
constructed as a gender issue rather than a cultural issue, in order to ensure the most
effective community engagement possible.
Recommendations
Genuine change cannot be imagined without the participation and leadership of the
communities themselves. The Victorian Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Coalition project
aims to channel this approach through a partnership with Secondary Colleges for an
educational campaign. Through educational material and training modules, the campaign
aims to educate at-risk individuals, school staff, Secondary Schools and community members
about forced marriage, the legal right to choose not to marry and the resources available to
students should they be facing a forced marriage.
Educational material has been developed by the VIRWC, a wallet-sized accordion style
brochure specifically targeting at-risk high school students and a post-card aimed at service
providers. The brochure for at-risk students includes a motivational ‘The Choice is Yours’
tag-line, definitions in layman’s terms so as to be easily understood, a short description as to
the consequences of forced marriage and service contact information. The pink theme was
chosen deliberately to make the brochure appear fashion or make-up related, in order to allow
13
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
girls to safely carry them in their wallets without arousing suspicion.The post-card targeting
service providers has a similar design focus, however the definitions were refined to be more
technical.
The VIRWC is dedicated to promoting the development and support of immigrant and
refugee women and girls, and will strive to encourage the end of forced marriage in the
Victorian and wider Australian community.
14
Forced Marriage: Beyond Criminalisation
References
Chantler, K. “Recognition of and Intervention in Forced Marriage as a Form of Violence and
Abuse. Trauma, Violence and Abuse 13 no. 3(2012): 176-183
International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) (2007).“New Insights on Preventing
Child Marriage: A Global Analysis of Factors and Programs.” Accessed from:
http://www.icrw.org/files/publications/New-Insights-on-Preventing-Child-Marriage.pdf
International Planned Parenthood Federation and the Forum on Marriage and the Rights of
Women and Girls (2006).“Ending child marriage -A guide for global policy action.”
Accessed from:
http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/662_filename_endchildmarriage.pdf
Raja, A, NiranjanSaggurti, Danielle Lawrence, DontaBalaiah, and Jay G.
Silverman.“Association between adolescent marriage and marital violence among young
adult women in India.”International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics110(2010): 35-39.
Accessed from:
http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/science/article/pii/S002072921000093
7
Sharma, BR and Manisha Gupta. “Gender based violence in India – a never-ending
phenomenon.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 6, no. 1(2004): 114-123
Simmons, F and Jennifer Burn. “Without Consent: Forced Marriage in Australia.” Melbourne
University Law review 36(2013): 970-1008
UK Forced Marriage Unit (2009). “Multi-agency Practice Guidelines: Handling Cases of
Forced Marriage.”Accessed from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/35530/forcedmarriage-guidelines09.pdf
World Health Organisation and United Nations Population Fund (2006). “Married
Adolescents: No Place of Safety.” Accessed from:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2006/9241593776_eng.pdf
15