My friend and colleague Nicole Jamison has launched a petition through Change.org calling on the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen to investigate Prospective Spouse Visas for underage girls. The petition reads:
More than 200 17-year-old girls have been granted Prospective Spouse visas over the past five years. Most are young women from the Middle East or Southeast Asia. Under the conditions of this visa, girls must marry their sponsor within nine months of arrival in Australia. According to news reports, one 17-year-old Thai girl was sponsored by a 57-year-old man, and one Iraqi teenager was sponsored by a 50-year-old man.
Australian laws allow minors to marry only under strict conditions, and with court approval. Many of the girls who have been granted visas come from countries where arranged child marriage is practiced, or where the trafficking of girls and women is prevalent. Yet the Immigration Department has defended the program.
The government must launch an inquiry into these shocking figures, in order to ensure the visa process is transparent and that the safety of these girls can be ensured.
Please sign and share the petition as a matter of urgency.
See also: Commonwealth leaders take historic step to end child marriage
One Response
Thanks for sharing this, Melinda.
I have shared this petition with Minister Bowen on his facebook profile twice in the past week, but am still awaiting a response from him or his office on the matter…