Under Age and Forced Marriages in Australia

Coercing Someone to Marry is a Crime

It has been alleged that an iman married a 12 year old girl to a 26 year old man in NSW.  The girl has been placed in foster care while the 26 year old has been charged with having sex with a child and the iman has been charged with solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person.    A woman who is now 25 years old has also revealed that she was forced into marriage with an Islamic man at the age of 14.  Under the Crimes Legislation Amendment Act 2013 coercing someone into a marriage is a crime with a resultant sentence of up to seven years.  The legal age for marriage in Australia is 18 years old  unless a court approves a union where one party is aged between 16 and 18.  In the 2011 census, figures for NSW indicate that three children aged 14, 30 children aged 15, 152 aged 16 and 483 aged 17 identified themselves as living in a defacto marriage.  Read more…