Australian School Holidays

Forced weddings in summer school holidays. Do we have protections ...

Because the average victims are girls aged 14 to 19, she says summer holidays are “the most dangerous time. There will be thousands of girls who don’t come back in September.”

The 500 or more calls a month to Karma Nirvana [a charity that deals with forced marriages] and the 400 survivors of forced marriage rescued and repatriated by the Foreign Office’s Forced Marriage Unit every year is just “the tip of the iceberg”, she says. – The Guardian

One of the stories I found most compelling was a girl who was sent to Pakistan for a forced marriage, whose her father was a wealthy businessman and her mother a GP. How on earth can a mother who herself has had the opportunity to not only complete her schooling but also have higher education and a profession believe the necessary thing for her daughter is a forced marriage in a 3rd world country at 16? “ if you’re really behind the times).

Given that we have many of the same cultures here in Australia, I am curious what protections there are against forced marriages here. The UK has a Forced Marriage Act, which allows courts to issue orders that can prevent families from taking victims abroad, forcing them to hand over passports, or reveal the victim’s whereabouts.

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