AFP continues crackdown on forced marriages in Australia
Young girls are being forced into marriages in record numbers in Victoria, with 31 investigations launched into the growing problem in the past year. But the AFP is focused on disrupting the crime.
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Young women and children are being pressured into forced marriages in record numbers with the problem at its worst in Victoria.
The Australian Federal Police launched 91 investigations into forced marriages in a 12-month period, with 31 of those occurring here.
Many of the probes were sparked after tip-offs from schools while others came in after Victoria Police called federal cops in after becoming suspicious during the course of domestic violence investigations.
The Herald Sun can reveal the AFP now focuses as much on disrupting a forced marriage and nipping it in the bud before it happens as it does on arresting people over the plots.
The AFP works closely with the Australian Red Cross to support victims.
Since forced marriage became a criminal offence in 2014 the Red Cross has supported 108 victims referred to them by the AFP.
Sixty-one of those were adults and 47 children or young people under the age of 18.
The victims were from 17 different countries, including Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran.
Detective Superintendent Jayne Crossling said the primary concern was always the victim and prosecution was the second concern.
“Where we can we will go for a prosecution because we are very mindful it has a strong deterrent effect,” she said.
“Forced marriage is an area where we have seen our statistics rise both nationally and within Victoria, year on year.”
In one disturbing case the AFP were contacted by a Victorian school with a tip about a 17-year-old girl who teachers feared was at risk of a forced marriage.
Police launched a probe and discovered the girl was being forced by her family to marry a man overseas against her will.
The AFP approached the girl’s family and explained Australia’s forced marriage laws to them.
The family’s plans for the forced marriage were scrapped before any offence was actually committed.
Nationally there have been three prosecutions for forced marriages since 2013-14.
AFP has received 335 referrals for suspected forced marriages since they were criminalised in March 2013.
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There were 91 referrals in the 2018-19 financial year – up from 61 the previous year
The scale of forced marriages in Australia is difficult to estimate as it often goes unreported.
Victims can be reluctant to report to police because they don’t want to get family members in trouble.
“We hear about potential victims through a range of different mechanisms. They might come to light through a school environment,” Supt Crossling said.
“We have some highly engaged and switched on teachers and principals here in Victoria who know the signs – either family or someone who has had some influence on them to travel offshore.”
Kyla Raby, the Red Cross lead for forced marriage, said: “We have seen a steady increase since 2014. It has gone up every year.
“It is an issue that has been identified more in Victoria and NSW.
“There are forced marriage networks (police and non-governmental organisations) that are strong in those states – they have done good work in raising awareness of forced marriage.”