There’s no room for child marriages in Australia

Horrifying news of a spike in forced child marriages needs to prompt some serious questions about the wisdom of Australia’s official policy of multiculturalism.

According to Australian Federal Police figures released recently, the number of reported forced marriages rose from three in 2014 to nearly 70 this year.

NSW Family and Community Services minister Brad Hazzard has admitted that girls as young as nine are being taken overseas and forced into marriage.

The girls come from Muslim communities where child marriage is often accepted as part of Islamic tradition because it is sanctioned by the Qur’an.

Child marriages were common in 7^th century Arabia and the practice was adopted by the Qur’an. But why has it been allowed to continue in 21^st century western countries like Australia?

New forced marriage legislation came into effect here in 2013. It is now offence to cause someone to enter a forced marriage which is defined as one involving force, threat or deception.

Since 2013, the Support for Trafficked People Program has seen an increase in the number of referrals as more people come forward to report cases —  but to what effect?

Police, school principals, and community workers can only do so much to address the scourge of force marriages. Increased vigilance concerning the well-being and whereabouts of vulnerable girls is certainly vital.

But equally important is a better understanding amongst imams and Muslim community leaders that forced marriage – deemed by the law to be akin to slavery – is totally illegal in this country.

Muslim community leaders have mouthed the usual soundbites and say they are shocked by the new figures and emphasise the importance of consent in Islamic marriages.

“For anybody to force a young lady or a young man into a marriage against their will is wrong,” says Muslims Australia president Keysar Trad.

Arranged marriages are, by definition, marriage unions that don’t take account of the wishes of the people who are to be married. That is why they are “arranged”.

It is one thing to arrange a marriage between people who are legally old enough to get married – that is, who are at least 18 years of age.

But the people now reported as being taken overseas for arranged marriages certainly do not have the legal capacity to get married.

They are neither Keysar Trad’s “young ladies” nor “young men”: they are children, often as young as nine, whose health, education, and well-being are thereby curtailed.

The Islamic practice of forced child marriage is making a deepening impact on Australian society. Some cases have been brought before the courts and the perpetrators jailed. But many more cases appear to be undetected and will therefore go unpunished.

Australia is a proudly multicultural country which has successfully welcomed to its shores people from every racial, ethnic and religious background.

But the Trads of Oz need realise that the limits of Aussie tolerance will soon be reached if Islamic practices harming children are beyond the reach of the law.

Peter Kurti is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies