Forced Marriage
A forced marriage is when a person gets married without freely and fully consenting,
because they have been coerced, threatened or deceived,
or because they are incapable of understanding
the nature and effect of a marriage ceremony,
for reasons including age or mental capacity.
Forced marriage is a slavery-like practice,
a form of gender-based violence and an abuse of human rights.
ACRATH remains committed to eliminating forced marriage by:
- raising awareness leading to action
- acting regionally and nationally
- working for systemic change, locally and globally
- advocating with government
- collaborating with counter trafficking networks
In 2013 the Crimes Legislation Ammendment Act inserted forced marriage into the Australian Criminal Code. During the 2022/2023 financial year, the AFP received 90 reports of forced marriage. (Source: Australian Federal Police)
(Please note that the materials developed by ACRATH listed on this page have been specifically designed for an adult workplace context. ACRATH strongly recommends that these materials not be accessed by school-aged students. Thank you.)
MY RIGHTS MY FUTURE - FORCED MARRAGE
Forced Marriage School resource ACRATH 2024
The purpose of this resource is prevention-focused awareness-raising and education – vital components of Australia’s strategy to combat forced marriage.
It contains key information for teachers, referral pathway information, and Australian Curriculum-linked lesson materials on a range of topics related to forced marriage.
Click on the following links to access resources on this page
ACRATH AWARENESS RAISING AND EDUCATION MATERIALS
ACRATH has developed supporting awareness-raising and education materials for workplace professionals including
Education – Secondary school teachers, student welfare staff and support staff
- Professional Learning Package for Teachers, student welfare staff and support staff (June 2020)
- Curriculum materials to use with secondary school students in a Kit titled, My Rights – My Future forced marriage (updated June 2020)
- A PowerPoint Presentation for Secondary School Students to be used in conjunction with the curriculum materials in the Kit (June 2020)
Healthcare – Midwives, nurses and other healthcare professionals
Frontline Professionals –
Those who may encounter people in, or at risk of, forced marriage during their professional duties e.g., Child Protection professionals, police, multicultural agencies, settlement organisations
DO YOU NEED SUPPORT OR ADVICE ABOUT FORCED MARRIAGE?
ACRATH strongly recommends using Anti-Slavery Australia's purpose-developed mybluesky.org.au website. This website is a go-to resource should you have questions about forced marriage in Australia . Spending time navigating the mybluesky website provides an excellent learning experience; familiarisation with the resources on the website is most important for those working with victim/survivors.
The MY BLUE SKY website also contains a guide for frontline workers - https://mybluesky.org.
FORCED MARRIAGE COMMUNITY PACK
The Australian Government, in partnership with the National Roundtable on Human Trafficking and Slavery's Communication and Awareness Working Group, has developed a forced marriage community pack.
The pack provides information and resources on forced marriage and is available to download below:
- Overview: using the Forced Marriage Community Pack (195KB PDF)
- Forced marriage information sheet (180KB PDF)
- Forced marriage frequently asked questions sheet (168KB PDF)
- Forced marriage information for organisations and service providers (785KB PDF)
- Forced marriage safety plan and template (490KB PDF)
- Forced marriage small fold-away booklet (146KB PDF)
- Forced marriage fact sheet for media (172KB PDF)
To access these documents in other languages click here.
GUIDANCE FOR CLERGY AND MARRIAGE CELEBRANTS
On 27 February 2013 the Australian Parliament enacted legislation to strengthen the capacity of investigators and prosecutors to combat all forms of human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices, including by introducing new offences of forced marriage.
The legislation includes two offences of forced marriage:
- causing another person to enter into a forced marriage, and
- being a party to a forced marriage (this offence does not apply to the victim of a forced marriage).
Both offences have penalties of a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment, or nine years’ imprisonment in the case of an aggravated offence (for example, where the victim is less than 18 years old, or the offender subjects the victim to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment). If a celebrant suspects that they may be involved in a forced marriage they should contact the Australian Federal Police or their local police immediately.
The Attorney General's Department of the Australian Government issued Guidelines on the Marriage Act 1961 for Authorised Marriage Celebrants. The most recent guidelines were issued in July 2018. Sections 8.6 and 12.4 have specific references regarding the responsibility of clergy and marriage celebrants with regard to forced marriage. Access the guidelines here.