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.

ACRATH FORCED MARRIAGE RECORDED WEBINAR

ACRATH has developed a 35 minute recorded webinar for workplace professionals, titled 2020 ACRATH-developed Forced Marriage Presentation. The Presentation explores the complexities of forced marriage, the impact on a victim of forced marriage, the extent of the problem in Australia and globally, and Referral Pathways for victim/survivors, usually young women in Australia under the age of 18.

Click here for a running sheet that provides a break-down of the Video content for use with groups who may benefit from a ‘pause & discuss’ method of learning. It allows a group facilitator to use the video resource in a deconstructed manner, so that group participants can systematically process the content. Please note additional points to discuss which are in italics in the running sheet.

ACRATH has also developed supporting awareness-raising and education materials for workplace professionals to be used in conjunction with the Presentation, 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 Senior Secondary School students to be used in conjunction with the curriculum materials in the Kit (June 2020)

Healthcare – Midwives, nurses and other healthcare professionals

• Forced Marriage Awareness-raising and Education Resource for Midwives, Nurses and Other Healthcare Professionals (June 2020)

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

• Forced Marriage Awareness-raising and Education Resource for Frontline Professionals who may encounter people in, or at risk of, forced marriage (June 2020)

MY RIGHTS - MY FUTURE FORCED MARRIAGE

In 2015, with a small grant from the Federal Government, ACRATH  developed curriculum resources - along with school support documents - for all Government, Catholic and Independent secondary schools across Australia. These materials form the Kit: My Rights – My Future forced marriage, the purpose of which is prevention-focused awareness-raising and education – vital components of Australia’s strategy to combat forced marriage. The Kit was designed and developed to help educate students about Australia’s (2013) forced marriage legislation - through curriculum materials targetted at students aged 14 – 18 years. It was first published online in 2016 and has been updated in June 2020.

The Kit was developed for teachers and support staff. The learning and teaching materials have specifically been designed to be engaging and interactive. The materials are culturally and socially inclusive in their design, and are age and developmental-stage appropriate in nature. The need for sensitivity of school staff is highlighted throughout the Kit, as is the need for understanding the complexity of the practice of forced marriage. Cultural and family respect is a key underpinning of the materials in the Kit, but the safety of the person is always the over-riding priority.

By empowering our young people – through a prevention focus - with the knowledge and skills of how to navigate their way through the risks of forced marriage, we are in the best position to enable them to advocate for their rights and the rights of others.

The My Rights – My Future forced marriage Kit is structured as follows:

• Introductory Information – primarily related to what led to the Kit’s development; the background to the Project. This section also includes background information about the practice of forced marriage, from both a global and national context, along with information related to Australian legislation.
• A clear Rationale for the Project and the production of the Secondary Schools Kit and the Learning & Teaching materials contained within
• A Guide to Learning and Teaching – planning for effective learning about the practice of forced marriage in Australia, using methods that promote growth in knowledge, understanding and action
• Unit of Study – 15 Learning Sessions documented for teachers, from which they can make selections based on their student cohort. Following the Learning Sessions outlines, all required resources have been provided so that teachers have the opportunity to select those that will be used to formulate an online, digital resource booklet for students, if that is their preferred method.
• Extensive Appendices Section  - In this section of the Kit, we have provided a set of recommended protocols for schools around the referral of suspected cases of forced marriage.

It is envisaged that through an understanding that forced marriage is never acceptable, and always illegal in Australia, and that there are support agencies and services available for those in – and at risk of – forced marriage - that the incidence of forced marriage in young people may be reduced, now and into the future.

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.