FORCED MARRIAGE Awarenessraising Education 1 FORCED MARRIAGE AWARENESSRAISING

FORCED MARRIAGE Awareness-raising & Education 1

FORCED MARRIAGE - AWARENESS-RAISING This ACRATH-developed powerpoint has been prepared for use with Senior Secondary School Students The powerpoint is provided to be used in conjunction with the Learning and Teaching Curriculum Materials outlined in the My Rights – My Future forced marriage Kit for Australian Secondary Schools June 2020 2

WHY LEARN ABOUT FORCED MARRIAGE? ENDING FORCED MARRIAGE: - raise awareness - educate - empower - end exploitation 3

GRASPING THE CONTEXT – Forced marriage is a form of Modern Slavery 4

HOW? Slavery-like, exploitative practice Form of gender-based violence Abuse of human rights 5

Married 6

FORCED to Marry – How do these images reflect the reality? 7

A Global Issue Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were married as children (below 18 years of age). In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women 8

Impact on Girls More than one in three — or some 250 million — are married before age 15. (UNICEF) 9

15 Million Girls Every year, 15 million girls are forced or coerced into marriage. (World Health Organisation) 10

Millions Impacted Every 3 seconds, another girl is forced or coerced to marry. (UNICEF) 11

IT HAPPENS IN AUSTRALIA TOO! Forced marriage is happening in Australia 12

Forced Marriage Law • On March 8, 2013 legislation was passed to specifically outlaw the practice of forced marriage in Australia. • The amendment created new offences relating to slavery and slavery-like practices including forced marriage. 13

Forced Marriage in Australian law, a marriage is a forced marriage – use of coercion, threat or deception …without freely and fully consenting. (Jennifer Burn, “Putting an end to forced marriage in Australia”, www. theconversation. com October 19, 2013) 14

Coercion can involve • Force • Duress • Detention • Psychological oppression • Abuse of power • Taking advantage of a person’s vulnerability (Anti-Slavery Australia) 15

Threat can involve • Blackmail • Threats of physical violence • Threats of sexual violence (Anti-Slavery Australia) 16

Deception can take the form of • Tricking someone into being married • Misleading someone into being married (Anti-Slavery Australia) 17

Cultural Group, Religion, Ethnicity? Forced marriage is not limited to any particular cultural group, religion, ethnicity 18

Forced Marriage can affect anyone While the majority of victims are girls and young women, men and boys can also be forced into marriage. 19

Impacts? Impacts on those in, or at risk of, forced marriage 20

Impact Social, cultural, linguistic isolation Psychological and physical injuries Trauma and sexual assault – rape False imprisonment Lack of control over own life – no independence • Forced labour in the home, family business, slavery • • • 21

Impact • Fear of authority – fear keeps people powerless • Being trapped in a relationship, family structure • Controlled, unmonitored pregnancies • Shortened education – less scope for employment and financial independence • Poverty 22

Our Responsibilities • Our ultimate responsibility is protection and prevention • To do this means raising awareness and education • It is also to support those in, or at risk of, forced marriage - in a sensitive manner, understanding the complexities involved and always respecting the rights and wishes of those involved. 23

Referral Pathways Immediate Danger: Contact 000 Police Assistance & Support: AFP (Australian Federal Police) can be contacted anonymously for advice Ph 131 237. Remember, for people under 18 years there may be Mandatory Reporting obligations for some adult professionals 24

Help on Forced Marriage. . Anti-Slavery Australia. . Call 02 9514 8115 for free, private information and legal advice or email antislavery@uts. edu. au/. . mybluesky. . For free, private information and legal advice visit www. mybluesky. org. au or Facebook at Facebook. com/My. Blue. Sky. Future T: 02 9514 8115 or SMS: 0481 070 844 (in Victoria Forced Marriage is legislated as a form of Family Violence) 25

CONTACT ACRATH 03 9645 5986 info@acrath. org. au 26