The federal government is considering implementing stronger measures to prevent forced or servile marriages occurring in Australia.
Currently, a range of laws prevent a person from being sold, transferred or inherited into a marriage, but these laws relate to human trafficking or kidnap.
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Minister for Justice Brendan O'Connor says this could include new specific offences
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"There's a risk that cases of forced servile marriages are not captured by existing laws"
O'Connor says ideally, victims would be prevented from even leaving Australia.
"The best way to protect someone from a forced marriage that might be planned overseas is to prevent them being sent", but, he says, the better way is to prevent the crime going ahead.
The government has released a discussion paper and is seeking public comments about a range of measures it could introduce to better protect the victims of these practices.
There is no specific law against forced marriages that can be used to prosecute offenders in court., and it is hard to gauge the number of forced marriages.
