Kids Helpline says fearful child brides are calling for help

CHILDREN are contacting counselling services confused about why they are being forced to marry men. Nafia Khan (pictured) was just 18 when she thought she was about to embark on a family holiday.

Nafia Khan. Nafia now 27 was tricked in to returning to Pakistan. Picture: Richard Dobson

EXCLUSIVE: Children as young as 10 are contacting counselling services like Kids Helpline confused about why they have to marry men up to six times their age.
Many young women are bravely reaching out to out-of-home care providers to try and escape the horror of being sent overseas to marry a man they have never met, or even their own relatives.

Some of those are being housed in maximum security “witness protection-style” accommodation due to the fear of being tracked down by their family.

Kids Helpline say they are shocked by the increase in forced child marriage contacts recently and believe the rise of radical Islam is playing a part.

CASE STUDY:

NAFIA Khan was just 18 when she boarded a plane to Pakistan on what she thought was a family holiday.

The 27-year-old from Bankstown in Sydney’s west had just finished her Year 12 studies and was accepted to an engineering course at the University of New South Wales.

But life as an Australian university student was not to eventuate with Ms Khan being “trapped” in what she calls an emotionally abusive cycle in which her family pleaded with her to marry.

“My father said we were just going on a holiday to visit our family,” Ms Khan told News Corp Australia.

“Then once we arrived he began to suggest I marry and eventually wanted me to marry my cousin.

Nafia Khan, 27, tells her story of becoming ‘trapped’. Picture: Richard Dobson

“I kept saying no but then he (her father) was crying all the time and emotionally abusing me and trying to manipulate me to marry my cousin.”

Her much younger brother — who was six at the time — was missing out on school while the drama ensued.

“I really wanted him to get back to Australia and be in school so eventually I caved in and said if he let us return to Australia I would go through with the ceremony.”

Ms Khan said she and her cousin participated in the Islamic ritual of Nikah however, never consummated their marriage with sexual relations.

She then endured several years of “hell” where she desperately tried to escape consummating the marriage, all with a plan of getting out of Pakistan.

In 2015, Ms Khan escaped her peril with her mother and brother and is now living a new life.

She remarried earlier this year — for love, not duty.

Ms Khan said she wanted to tell her story to give other women being forced into marriage by their families the strength to know it was OK to fight back.

“In Australia there are laws that protect us now,” she said.

“You don’t have to agree to a marriage because your family is forcing you to. You have a choice and you should be able to marry for love.”

DESPERATE PLEAS

Among several cases revealed exclusively to News Corp Australia, a 10-year-old contacted the service twice in the past two months to discuss her pending marriage to a 31-year-old.

The girl spoke to Kids Helpline counsellors for an hour on two occasions in March and April via online chat after being told by her parents she would travel to the Middle East to marry a man three times her age.

The girl was scared about the prospect of having sex with her future stranger husband and was concerned over how to tell her friends and school that she would soon be a child bride.

“She contacted us first in March saying ‘I want to talk to a counsellor today about getting married’,” Louise Davis from Kids Helpline said.

“She did talk a little bit about having sex and her concern around what that was all about.”

The shocking example of forced child marriage is one of many as the issue continues to grow in Australia.

Nafia Khan also endured coercion after being tricked in to returning to Pakistan for a forced marriage. Picture: Richard Dobson

In April last year, an 11-year-old Sydney girl also contacted Kids Helpline to seek advice on her pending nuptials.

She had been told by her parents she would be sent to the Middle East in the Easter school holidays of 2016 to marry a 56-year-old.

Her 14-year-old sister had already been sent to the Middle East to marry a 60-year-old and had given birth to his child.

The Australian Federal Police had been called in to investigate both cases.

The 10-year-old is yet to be located.

The 11-year-old was never found and it was assumed she had already suffered the fate of her forced marriage.

“We worked with federal police to try and identify her. She gave us a school name but in the end she couldn’t be located,” Ms Davis said.

RADICAL MOTIVES

Ms Davis said the rise of Islamic State and radical Islam could be in part to blame.

“The numbers we are seeing calling are small but certainly they are more than what we were seeing a couple of years ago,” she said.

“Certainly I think there is some link to ISIS.”

Since 2013 through to December 2016 there have been 135 reports to the AFP of threats of forced marriage across the country.

Louise Davis from Kids Helpline says the number of forced marriages are increasing. Picture: Supplied

That number is on the increase but those well versed in the field say it’s partly due to more awareness of the practice now being illegal.

And the reports to the AFP just skim the surface with many women not wanting to drag their families into an investigation.

Many women and girls are running away from their families to homeless services to escape a forced marriage.

One care provider who did not want to be named for fear of the girls safety said they recently had a 13-year-old staying with their service who had run away from her family after being told she would be forced into a marriage.

“When these girls come to us they are often the most vulnerable clients we have because they are so enshrined and reliant upon their families,” a provider from the service said.

HIDDEN CRISIS

Director of Anti-Slavery Australia Jennifer Burn said there was no accurate research as to the size of the problem in Australia.

“At the moment, there is little to no research on the size, nature and scope of the problem of forced marriages here in Australia. More must be done to identify and protect those who are vulnerable,” Dr Burn said.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said forced marriage had no place in Australia and the government was doing all it could to stamp out the practice.

The Justice Minister Michael Keenan ... “Any type of marriage that is forced or involves a child is not acceptable”. Picture Gary Ramage

“Any type of marriage that is forced or involves a child is not acceptable and has no place in Australia,” Mr Keenan said.

“It is a contract of exploitation which puts vulnerable people at risk of physical and emotional abuse.

“This Government is committed to combating this egregious crime, including by monitoring our laws to ensure that they are as strong as possible.”

The federal government is currently conducting legal and community round-tables on the issue of forced marriage with the next one to occur in Brisbane later this month.

COURT ACTION

Several cases are or have been prosecuted recently in relation to the practice. Last month a 34-year-old Noble Park man in Victoria pleaded guilty to taking part in a forced marriage to a 14-year-old girl.

The 62-year-old Imam, Ibrahim Omerdic, who conducted the ceremony has also been charged for his involvement.

Melbourne man Majed Mamosi is also likely to become the first person convicted under federal forced-marriage laws since the practice was criminalised in 2013.

An AFP spokeswoman said forced marriage was not limited to any particular cultural group, religion or ethnicity.

“The AFP works closely with state and territory law enforcement agencies, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Attorney Generals Department, state and territory family services and Non-Government Organisations,” the spokeswoman said.

“The safety and welfare of the victim is of paramount importance in all victim based crime investigations.
“If someone is at risk of harm due to forced marriage or any other type of family violence, they should contact police on 000.”

Anyone who has concerns about forced marriage can contact My Blue Sky on [phone].

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FORCED MARRIAGE CONTACTS TO AFP SINCE THE PRACTICE WAS CRIMINALISED IN 2013

NEW SOUTH WALES

2013/14: 5

2014/15: 19

2015/16: 36

2016/17 (to 31 December, 2016): 9

QUEENSLAND

2013/14: 0

2014/15: 4

2015/16: 5

2016/17 (to 31 December, 2016): 1

VICTORIA

2013/14: 3

2014/15: 10

2015/16: 19

2016/17 (to 31 December, 2016): 9

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

2013/14: 1

2014/15: 0

2015/16: 4

2016/17 (to 31 December, 2016): 2

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

2013/14: 1

2014/15: 0

2015/16: 1

2016/17 (to 31 December, 2016):

OVERSEAS

2015/16: 4

2016/17 (to 31 December, 2016): 1

ACT

2013/14: 1

2014/15: 0

2015/16: 0

2016/17: 0