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Up until yesterday, if you were the survivor of a forced marriage or a child marriage and wanted to access the Australian Red Cross’ Support for Trafficked People program, you could only do so if you were willing to engage the Australian Federal Police in criminal proceedings against perpetrators.
"When the majority of marriages are facilitated by family members it puts enormous pressure on victims,” said Ms Laura Vidal, Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand’s forced marriage specialist.
Minister for Social Services Dan Tehan admitted the existing requirement to engage police was “preventing many victims from getting help.”
But today, the Government announced victims can now access up to 200 days of support without getting the police involved.
In 2014, a report by Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand titled ‘The Right to Refuse’ detailed evidence of nationwide examples of forced marriage and the overwhelming advice that individuals are falling through the gaps because of the fear associated with participating with law enforcement.
Only as recently as March 2013 was forced marriage included in Australia’s criminal code. This gave the Australian Federal Police (AFP) greater powers to investigate suspected cases and prosecute anyone who assists in the arrangement of a forced marriage or had prior knowledge (parents, the celebrant, family friends, et al).
Encouragingly, since forced marriage has been criminalised, the number of referrals received by the AFP involving people in, or at risk of, forced marriage has been on the rise.
