Forced Marriage Dr Kathy Landvogt Head of Women’s Research, Advocacy and Policy(WRAP) Centre ‘Children and families across borders’ ISS Australia Conference 4-5 April 2016, University of Melbourne
Global advocacy: Good Shepherd International Office for Justice, Peace and Solidarity "Working to end poverty, human trafficking and gender-based violence, Advocating with women and girls, migrants and refugees, Recognizing our interconnectedness with the whole of creation, We seek to realize the rights of all, NGO in special consultative and achieve gender equality." status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN
Global commitments on early, child and forced marriage Global advocacy opportunities where GS active: o Committee for the Status of Women (CSW60): Outcome document o 11 days of action preceding the International Day of the Girl on October 11 o Annually at the General Assembly (3rd committee) there is a relevant resolution with regard to girls o Implementation of Beijing Platform for Action re the Girl Child. o Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women ( CEDAW )
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 5, Target 5.3: Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
Good Shepherd’s international anti -trafficking work
Good Shepherd’s local advocacy Research: o ‘Hidden Exploitation (2012) o ‘Right to Refuse: exploration of forced marriage in Australia’ (2014) Collective action: o Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking of Humans (ACRATH) o Victorian Forced Marriage Network
Case study: the hidden exploitation in forced marriages “Sondra works at a multicultural youth service. In the past, she had supported a young woman called Grace, who comes from a country in Africa. One day, Sondra bumped into Grace’s aunt on the street. The aunt informed her that Grace had gone on a holiday to Africa and she would not be returning in the near future. This surprised Sondra, as she knew that Grace was very keen on study, and that she wanted to do Grade 12. About a year later, Sondra bumped into Grace. Grace told her that she was married and was about to have a baby. Grace disclosed that her family had taken her on a holiday to Africa and had got her married at 19 years of age. Grace did not want to get married, but felt that she did not have a choice in the matter. She did not want to speak out about the marriage because to do so would bring shame on her family…
… Grace said that her husband was a nice enough man. She said she had no problems with him as such. However, she said that, if it were up to her, she would have stayed single and in school. She was very disappointed that she did not get the opportunity to do Grade 12. Grace’s husband was still in Africa. It was now up to Grace to try to save up enough money to bring him over to Australia. She did not know how she was going to do this, as her Centrelink benefits barely covered her own expenses .” (The Right to Refuse: Exploring Forced Marriage in Australia, M. McGuire,2014, GSANZ)
Policy influence… takes time • Victoria’s just released Royal Commission into Family Violence, Recommendation 156: “The Victorian Government amend section 6 of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) to expand the statutory examples of family violence to include forced marriage and dowry-related abuse [within 12 months ].” • 2 nd Action Plan 2013-16 of National Action Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children (June 2014) linked to new National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and Slavery…
Conceptualising forced marriage: 1. Gender Forced marriage is clearly gendered – a recognised form of gender-based violence o Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2012: 75% o UK - 82% female; Canada - 92% female o Options are more limited for woman even if the man is the one who is forced The mechanisms are multiple - centred on: o Rigidly controlled societal norms and expectations re gender o Inequality between men and women o Lack of respect for personhood and agency of women and girls o Misuse of (contested) cultural practices
Conceptualising forced marriage: 2. Intersectionality Many correlates and/or risk factors including: Age Young women and girls are more vulnerable to forced marriage – in UK • 40% under 18 (2013 statistics) - although may be partly that these are recorded because more clear-cut cases for intervention Disability • Women (and men) with a disability have been identified as more at risk: it is a way to ensure they are married LGBTIQA • Similarly, where the person’s sexuality or gender identity is a source of shame or concern, marriage is seen as a solution to control it Also: immigration status, mental heath, criminality, etc
Intersectionality case study: Disability “Mariam is a 20 year old woman with a severe intellectual disability, born in Australia, of Lebanese background. She lives with her mother, Shada. Shada has family friends who are influential in the Lebanese community. They told Mariam to pack some clothes and passport because she was going away with them. Shada reported that Mariam tended to do “what she was told”. Although Shada did not want the family friends to take her daughter, she felt that she could not stand up to them. The family friends have told Shada that they are sending Mariam to Lebanon. They said that they will marry Mariam to their son so that he can come and live in Australia. They say that the wedding has been planned for later this year .”
Conceptualising forced marriage: 3. Context and lived experience Need to put the victim at the centre and understand their world so we can expand their choices. For example - o ‘Choice’ and ‘agency’ are not useful concepts when context means marriage is the only way a woman can live – sometimes literally o Marriage, even forced, may be seen as a form of liberation with attractive privileges for a girl or young woman denied freedom of movement and other forms of autonomy
Responding to forced marriage: 1. Holistic response Criminal offence legislation in Australia - a torchbearer for, not a reflection of, social change Criminal legislation Prevention Service responses
Case study: Holistic response “Lina, 18 years, from Iran, lives with a violent father and a “liberal” mother who initially encouraged her to get an education until her friends started marrying off their daughters. In Year 11 community members started asking her parents for Lina to marry their son. Lina told her parents that she was willing to enter into an arranged marriage after she had finished university. Lina’s parents disregarded her wishes and engaged her to a young man. However, when Lina’s family had a disagreement with the young man’s family, they broke off the engagement. The pressure started again. ..
“Everyone knows everything about each other, and they started saying that the mother was a bad mother. They said that if the young woman didn’t get married soon, no one would want her” said Lina’s case worker. Lina was often teary at school and was not doing her homework. A school welfare officer noticed the change in her behaviour, and referred her to a multicultural youth service. Around the same time, her father’s violence towards her mother escalated. Lina’s mother decided to separate from her father, and took an intervention order out against him. This was a big ‘no -no ’ in her community. People started saying that her mother was ‘bad’ and, as a result, no one from the community wanted to marry Lina anymore.”
Responding to forced marriage: 2. Social-ecological model
Responding to forced marriage: 3. Continuum of intervention Crisis Prevention: response: Post-crisis Early C ommunity AFP, Red response: intervention education, Cross, Red Cross human Community critical rights orgs? ? incident culture response
Responding to forced marriage: 4. Using the community sector • Face-to-face contact is key • Informal community ‘champions’ provide prevention and early interventions • Community and group programs for young people, women, families are a critical resource • Services are currently investing their own resources in collaborating and building knowledge
Where to next? o A specialist integrated service system (beyond current criminal response and associated support) o Community practitioners at ‘coalface’ supported by specialist experts o Established referral and assessment protocols to assess and respond at critical moments of contact o Suitable accommodation options o Training across community, health and education sectors o Respectful relationships education in schools o Cross-sector networks joined up nationally o Research
THANK-YOU! Kathy.Landvogt@goodshep.org.au
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