Submissions open on bill to prevent forced marriage
Thu 15 Jun 2017
The Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill has passed its first reading with unanimous support. The Justice and Electoral ...
The Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill has passed its first reading with unanimous support. The Justice and Electoral Committee are now accepting submissions on the proposed legislation until 21 July 2017.
The purpose of the bill is to prevent forced marriages. The bill proposes to change the law to require 16 and 17 year olds to apply to the Family Court for approval to marry. Under the proposed changes, it would also be illegal to issue a marriage licence to a 16 or 17 year old without the Court’s approval.
In New Zealand, the age of consent to marry is 18. Currently, 16 and 17 year olds can marry with their parents’ consent. According to the press release from the Office of the Clerk, "This occurs around 80 times a year in New Zealand, and 80% of the 16 or 17 year olds involved are female."
The full text of the bill and transcript from the first reading are available online.
The bill is a Member’s Bill, sponsored by National MP Joanne Hayes. It was drafted by former National MP Jackie Blue in 2012, who put it into the Members' Bill ballot. For more information about the bill and previous action to address forced marriage, see the previous NZFVC story Collaboration to address forced marriage in New Zealand; more action urged.
Update: The Justice Committee has released their report recommending the bill be passed with amendments. These amendments include expanding the legislation to include civil unions and de facto relationships, allowing a judge to request a cultural report to help with making a decision and allowing the court to appoint legal representation for the applicant. The recommended amendments would require changes to several existing Acts.
Related legislation
The Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill has proposed a number of changes to civil and criminal law. This includes creating a new offence for coercion to marry. For more information about the legislation see the NZFVC story Government introduces Bill to reform family violence laws. This bill is currently in the Justice and Electoral Committee who are reviewing submissions.
More information
The Shakti Youth Unit recently developed a new handbook for migrant and refugee youth experiencing family violence. For information and research about migrant youth experiences of intimate partner violence see the following articles in the NZFVC library:
- Intersections of culture, migration and intimate partner violence as told by migrant youth (2015)
- Developing intimate partner violence intervention services for youth from migrant communities of colour: A technical report for Shakti Community Council, Inc. (2015)
- Moving on: structural violence and age(ncy) in young South Asian women's lifeworlds post-family violence in Aotearoa / New Zealand (2014)
Also see the issues paper the Intersectionality of Forced Marriage with Other Forms of Abuse in the United States from the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV).
Selected media
Forced marriage bill extended to civil unions and de facto relationships, NZ Herald, 31.05.2018
Bill to stop forced marriages has unanimous support, Newshub, 08.06.2017
Forced marriage legislation passes first hurdle: 'They end up as slaves', NZ Herald, 08.06.2017
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