Rita Panahi: We must not fail these girls
Australia can’t turn a blind eye to the reality of forced marriage and if we don’t step up to protect these young women and girls, we can’t call ourselves a civilised country, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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The disturbing rise of forced marriages is an issue that warrants far greater attention and activism, particularly in Victoria.
It’s hard to fathom how in modern Australia there are girls and women being forced into arranged marriages and abusive relationships by their own families.
At a time when Australian women enjoy unprecedented prosperity, opportunity and equality, there exists in the community a subjugated subclass who are coerced into taking part in devastating cultural practices.
Terms like forced and child marriage don’t reveal the full horror inflicted on victims who are often subjected to terrible abuse, including repeated rapes.
Data from the Australian Red Cross shows there has been a dramatic increase in the number of victims seeking assistance after escaping from forced marriages with more than half of those requiring support coming from Victoria.
The Red Cross Support for Trafficked People Program Data Snapshot shows 44 per cent of victims are under 18 and there has been a five-fold increase since 2015.
In 2019 the organisation helped 67 individuals, up from 48 the previous year.
Victims have included Australian women and girls as well as those from 16 other countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran.
You may recognise a theme; cultures where women are considered second class citizens are implementing backward practices in Australia.
As with female genital mutilation, sometimes the illegal deed occurs in Australia but more often the girl is sent overseas to be cut or forced into marriage.
And just like FGM, the official figures do not reflect the full picture given the overwhelming majority of victims are reluctant to make a complaint that would land their loved ones, typically their own mother and father, in serious trouble with authorities.
The Australian Federal Police formally investigated 91 cases of forced marriage in the 2018-2019 financial year but prosecutions are rare.
With potential victims often reluctant to come forward, the AFP relies on teachers and principals to recognise the signs of a child being prepared for marriage.
Greater awareness of the issue is a positive step.
In recent years a number of child marriage victims have spoken about authority figures turning a blind eye to their plight.
One teenage bride spoke about teachers attending her marriage while another was dismayed that no one at the hospital where she gave birth asked why a 16-year-old’s husband was so much older than she was.
Many of the Australian-raised girls forced into marriage at a young age have attended Islamic schools and some are encouraged not to mix with non-Muslims.
One brave young woman, Bee Al Darraj, who escaped a child marriage after watching her 13 and 14-year-old sisters be married off to adult men told SBS “it did not feel like I lived in Australia at all”.
She said: “The day started with praying, it ended with praying. We had Islamic classes as well. It (the school) was very religious based, I guess.
“Even the teachers spoke Arabic to us. They wore the scarf. It just really didn’t feel like it was in Australia at all.”
Groups working with women fleeing forced marriages say the AFP figures are a fraction of the actual number.
Carol Kaplanian, an expert in honour killings and a counsellor to abused women, told The Australian: “It’s a big problem and it’s getting bigger.
“A lot of the women are living in hiding and some of the beatings and sexual violence they have endured is beyond belief,” Dr Kaplanian said.
Those affected aren’t just Australian-born or raised girls; there are also young women brought to Australia after being forced into marriage to an Australian resident or citizen.
Those women are among the most powerless in our community.
Not only do they lack a support network, have poor English language skills and little awareness of their legal rights, but they also fear being deported if the marriage dissolves. They typically enter the country on spousal visas and have limited access to services — plus they often fear their family will punish them if they return home.
Far more needs to be done to protect the most vulnerable women in the community.
Our Watch, the taxpayer-funded domestic violence group, would do well to devote greater resources to this issue rather than railing against gendered toys, language and “rigid gender roles and stereotyped constructions of masculinity and femininity”.
Australian women have every legal protection under the law but some are powerless within their own families and communities and must submit, be cast out or worse.
We cannot allow concerns about political correctness or cultural sensitivities cloud our judgment.
Forced marriages are the start of long term abuse, with girls and women forced into a life of submission and humiliation.
Cultural relativism is nothing more than cowardice.
The politically correct aversion to offending certain communities or cultures has seen thousands of young girls brutalised in the United Kingdom in the grooming gangs scandal. Thousands of vulnerable girls have been sexually abused, drugged and trafficked with authorities aware of the abuse but reluctant to act for fear of “appearing racist”, given the offenders were mainly from Pakistani backgrounds.
Australia cannot repeat Britain’s mistakes.
We must act with moral clarity, do everything possible to protect at-risk girls and women and prosecute those who break our laws.
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist.