On its face the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act seems like a no-brainer in a liberal democracy such as Canada. The Act makes inadmissible individuals who practice polygamy from immigrating or entering Canada; amends the Civil Marriage Act to provide for the legal requirements of for a free and enlightened consent to marriage and for any previous marriage to be dissolved or declared null before a new marriage is contracted; and amends the Criminal Code to criminalize various acts surrounding the marriage of parties who are less than 16 years of age.
In advocating for the enactment of this legislation, Minister Chris Alexander indicated that forced marriages are practiced in Canada, citing the research of the South Asian Legal Clinic ("SALCO") of Ontario, indicating the same. SALCO has come out against this legislation on the grounds that criminalization of polygamous individuals does not help the women who are victims. The basis for SALCO's objection to criminalization is that victims will further fear coming forward to authorities as victims if they believe that their partner, who is often related or a close family associate, will be arrested or face immigration or criminal consequences. As a result, they will continue to live in shame and seclusion, keeping their experiences private.
Instead of criminalizing such behavior, SALCO put forward practical and thoughtful recommendations for helping victims including ensuring victims can obtain housing assistance; victims will not be made to suffer immigration consequences; for counselling services to be provided for victims; and for a public awareness campaign. The SALCO study and the recommendations can be found below:
So if the advocates for women who are victims of forced marriage do not believe criminalization would be an effective tool to fight the problem, why is this legislation being put forward?
The ugly answer: Politics and bigotry. While there are undoubtedly many Christian congregations and sects which practice polygamy and underage marriage, a certain segment of the public associates these practices with minorities such as Muslims and other foreigners. The government is signalling to this segment of the public that the Conservative party is not only against these practices, but also that they oppose any deviation from the "normal" practices of Westerners in Canadian democracy. In light of the Ottawa attacks and the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris, this may very well make for winning politics. However, as readily apparent from the SALCO report, this legislation does nothing to protect the victims of forced marriages.
In advocating for the enactment of this legislation, Minister Chris Alexander indicated that forced marriages are practiced in Canada, citing the research of the South Asian Legal Clinic ("SALCO") of Ontario, indicating the same. SALCO has come out against this legislation on the grounds that criminalization of polygamous individuals does not help the women who are victims. The basis for SALCO's objection to criminalization is that victims will further fear coming forward to authorities as victims if they believe that their partner, who is often related or a close family associate, will be arrested or face immigration or criminal consequences. As a result, they will continue to live in shame and seclusion, keeping their experiences private.
Instead of criminalizing such behavior, SALCO put forward practical and thoughtful recommendations for helping victims including ensuring victims can obtain housing assistance; victims will not be made to suffer immigration consequences; for counselling services to be provided for victims; and for a public awareness campaign. The SALCO study and the recommendations can be found below:
So if the advocates for women who are victims of forced marriage do not believe criminalization would be an effective tool to fight the problem, why is this legislation being put forward?
The ugly answer: Politics and bigotry. While there are undoubtedly many Christian congregations and sects which practice polygamy and underage marriage, a certain segment of the public associates these practices with minorities such as Muslims and other foreigners. The government is signalling to this segment of the public that the Conservative party is not only against these practices, but also that they oppose any deviation from the "normal" practices of Westerners in Canadian democracy. In light of the Ottawa attacks and the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris, this may very well make for winning politics. However, as readily apparent from the SALCO report, this legislation does nothing to protect the victims of forced marriages.
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