FORCED MARRIAGE & MODERN SLAVERY Freedom Network USA Conference 5-6 April 2017 Washington D.C Laura Vidal National Projects Coordinator The Freedom Partnership-to End Modern Slavery Sydney, Australia [email protected] ABOUT THE SALVATION ARMY FREEDOM PARTNERSHIP- TO END MODERN SLAVERY The Freedom Partnership-to End Modern Slavery is the national response of The Salvation Army in Australia to respond to issues related to human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices. The Salvation Army in Australia has been undertaking this work for coming onto 10 years; having opened Australia’s only Safe House for victims in 2008. The work undertaken by The Freedom Partnership remains independent of the Australian Government. The Freedom Partnership: . Mobilises community to effectively identify and respond to modern slavery . Engages with government, business, corporations and consumers to uncover, mitigate and remediate slavery in production supply chains . Partners with local, state and territory governments that develop and implement localised responses . Empowers survivor advocates to contribute their expertise Since Forced Marriage was criminalised as a slavery-practice in 2013, The Freedom Partnership has expanded its work in this area to address Australia’s response and strengthen protections for individuals at risk. Including delivering in the following program areas: . Community outreach and training—assisting communities to identify and appropriately respond to disclosures of early and forced marriage . Confidential advice and technical assistance—to individuals and organisations facing early and forced marriage, including information about Australia’s response framework and making referrals for assistance . Supported accommodation and case management—via Australia’s only trafficking and slavery safe house . Peer mentoring—working with survivors to mentor others facing forced marriage, offering support, insight, resources and guidance through complex social and cultural situations . Policy and advocacy—identifying and responding to gaps in Australia’s legal and policy framework that make it difficult for individuals at risk to seek help Page| 1 This paper has been written for the purpose of the 2017 Freedom Network USA Conference. No part of this paper may be reproduced without the express permission of the author. DEFINING FORCED MARRIAGE AS SLAVERY The most commonly understood definition of forced marriage, is a marriage which is entered into without the full, free and valid consent of one or both parties; through physical and psychological duress. Forced Marriage intersects with a diverse range of other crimes and social problems including child abuse, sexual assault and rape, family violence, stalking, female genital mutilation and human trafficking and slavery. Forced marriage is a complex problem that crosses over both private and public spheres and has detrimental consequences for those impacted. Forced marriage, whilst affecting both men and women, has a disproportionately negative impact on women and girls. According to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), 700 million women alive today were married as children, and a further 280 million will face forced marriage.1 Internationally, forced marriage has largely been viewed as a criminal justice issue with many across the globe lobbying for the criminalisation as a way to deter and prevent this practice from occurring. Arguments against criminalisation suggest that addressing the practice through this frame prevents people from being able to seek assistance and sends the practice further underground. Within the Australian context, the criminalisation of forced marriage has seen some positive benefits, including raising the profile of the practice and making some options available to individuals at risk. Australia criminalised forced marriage in 2013 under the slavery provisions in the Commonwealth Criminal Code. As such, this paper outlines how forced marriage can be understood as a practice of slavery, but does not reject or deny how it intersects with other crimes or social problems. International Conventions The 1926 Slavery Convention defines slavery as: ‘the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised’2 Likewise, in the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, there is specific reference to exploitative marriage practices, whereby, marriage is referred to as a ‘institution or practice similar to slavery’3 1 http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/700-million-women-married-children-reveals-new-unicef-data/ 2 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/SlaveryConvention.aspx 3 Each of the States Parties to this Convention shall take all practicable and necessary legislative and other measures to bring about progressively and as soon as possible the complete abolition or abandonment of the following institutions and practices, where they still exist and whether or not they are covered by the definition of slavery contained in article 1 of the Slavery Convention signed at Geneva on 25 September 1926: (c) Any institution or practice whereby: (i) A woman, without the right to refuse, is promised or given in marriage on payment of a consideration in money or in kind to her parents, guardian, family or any other person or group; or (ii) The husband of a woman, his family, or his clan, has the right to transfer her to another person for value received or otherwise; or (iii) A woman on the death of her husband is liable to be inherited by another person; http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/SupplementaryConventionAbolitionOfSlavery.aspx Page| 2 This paper has been written for the purpose of the 2017 Freedom Network USA Conference. No part of this paper may be reproduced without the express permission of the author. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery has drawn links between child marriage and slavery, pointing out that States are obliged to prohibit and eliminate slavery as a non derogable and fundamental principle of international law4 Other references to States international obligations to address forced marriage and/or child marriage include: . Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Article 16, 2 “the betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect” . Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 24,3 States parties should “take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children Anti-Slavery International details that child and forced marriage can be referred to as slavery, if one or more of the following elements are present: . If the child has not genuinely given their free and informed consent to enter the marriage; . If the child is subjected to control and a sense of ‘ownership’ in the marriage itself, particularly through abuse and threats, and is exploited by being forced to undertake domestic chores within the marital home or labour outside it, and/or engage in non- consensual sexual relations; . If the child cannot realistically leave or end the marriage, leading potentially to a lifetime of slavery In many situations of forced marriage, there are often elements of force, fraud and coercion which can be likened to that of human trafficking. In addition to this, both the facilitation and result of a forced marriage, can mean that an individual may experience a deprivation of liberty. Australian analysis- in brief In a 2014 report by the Australian Institute of Criminology5, exploring marriage as a way to facilitate trafficking of people into Australia, they conclude that this issue suggests the existence of a separate category of human trafficking, one in which the exploitation element is neither exclusively labour related nor sexual, but the exploitation of the very personhood of the individual victim/survivor, through the individuals (1) labour- in the form of domestic servitude, forced labour outside the home or both (2) body- in the form of sexual servitude to their intimate partner and/or lack of control over child bearing (3) self- in the form of loss of freedom and psychological bondage. The 2013 offences, introduced an offence of forced marriage, but in addition to that expanded existing definitions to include servile marriage which includes a person being sold, transferred or inherited into a marriage as a condition similar to slavery. 4 Thematic Report on Servile Marriage as referenced by United Nations General Assembly, Human Rights Council 26th Session, ‘Preventing and elimination child, early and forced marriage’, Report of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2014) p.5 5 Lyneham S, & Richards K. (2014) Human Trafficking involving Marriage and Partner Migration into Australia http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/rpp/124/rpp124.pdf Page| 3 This paper has been written for the purpose of the 2017 Freedom Network USA Conference. No part of this paper may be reproduced without the express permission of the author. Australian academic Dr. Kaye Quek, in her 2013 thesis argues that forced marriage meets the international legal criteria for trafficking in persons, and suggests a wider problem of ‘marriage trafficking’ that should be recognised as a contemporary form of trafficking and slavery. Dr. Quek also introduces the concept of human trafficking in the context of family