Teen Bride Takes Parents to Court Over Arranged Marriage
A 16-year-old Australian girl secretly took legal action against her parents to escape an arranged marriage to a man she met only one time.
The young girl, whose parents are from Lebanon, asked an Australian court to restrain them from sending her to Lebanon by placing her on an airport watch security list – in an effort to stop the prearranged marriage.
It is unclear how old the suitor for the marriage was, but the teen did say that she had met him once.
A judge determined that there would be psychological risk to the girl unless they intervened.
The court restrained the girl’s parents from removing her from Australia and harassing, threatening, or intimidating her.
Federal magistrate Joe Harman praised the girl for her bravery and said, “The young person’s evidence makes very clear that she has expressed to her parents that she does not want to go to Lebanon and does not want to marry the person proposed.”
Harman added, “The arrangements proposed should not be judged or criticized from a Western perspective, but must be viewed through the eyes of those who live and appreciate that culture.”
The wedding was planned for April and the court ruling was ordered just two weeks before the wedding date. Details of the judgment were made public this week, however.
Arranged marriages in Lebanon are not a very common phenomenon and mostly happen in closed communities, although much of the country has been influenced by western-style, social attitudes, and customs.
Although the International Bill of Human Rights technically protects people from forced marriage, cultural traditions and the right to protest within a family unit establish substantial barriers towards those that wish to protest against an arranged marriage, particularly in small communities.
