Schools on Alert as Police Tackle Surge in Forced Marriages

Reported instances of children being forced to marry in Australia have come to represent an increasing proportion of human trafficking, the AFP says.

Year seven students arrive to Elevation Secondary College in Craigieburn, Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 12, 2020. AAP Image/James Ross

The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) has asked schools to help combat rising instances of forced marriage.

In 2015-16, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) received 69 reports of forced marriages—a practice that was only outlawed in Australia in March of 2013.