Islamic State call for jihadi brides could see Australian girls forced into terror marriages
- 8 DAYS AGO SEPTEMBER 24, 2014
FEARS are mounting that Australian girls could be sent overseas by radicalised family members and forced to marry extremists linked to the death cult ISIS.
As the Islamic State launches a massive recruitment drive, using social media to lure young jihadi brides to wed violent terrorists, the Federal Government confirmed it is alert to an increased threat of Australian girls being forced into marriages.
Assistant Minister for Women Michaelia Cash told News Corp the government takes, “a zero tolerance approach to forced marriage” and recognises the “increased threat posed by the ruthless Islamic State”.
Married off ... there are fears Australian girls could be sent overseas by radicalised family members.
Horrendous... the Federal Government has confirmed there is an increased threat of Australian girls being forced into marriages. Source: News Limited
Her comments came as one of the country’s leading activists against forced marriage and human trafficking, Dr Eman Sharobeem, warned the Islamic State’s public appeal for wives could leave Australian girls vulnerable to being dispatched overseas against their wishes.
“It can happen, and it might be happening now,” Dr Sharobeem said.
Concerns ... Senator Michaelia Cash says the Federal Government will take a zero tolerance approach to forced marriage. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia
Dr Sharobeem said in the last fortnight alone, three teenagers from Iraqi and Syrian backgrounds were referred to her clinic, the Immigrant Women’s Health Service, from local Australian schools concerned the girls were being groomed to be child brides.
She said the three girls were all 15, two came from Muslim families, and one from a Christian background.
One of the Australian schoolgirls was told by her parents that she would be sent to Iraq to meet her intended husband.
Dr Sharobeem said none of these three cases appeared at this stage to have links to the Islamic State.
Safety fears ... Iraqi women hold placards reading in Arabic: "help women who are abused by daesh (Islamic State )” during a demonstration in Basra. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
But the activist, whose western Sydney office is located near a target of last week’s terror raids, said she is aware of Muslim girls being told by their parents that, “if they are not obedient they will be sent off to Syria”.
“There is a fear of an increase (in forced marriages) because of what is happening,” she said.
She said schools had now become “the main and only frontline” to intervene to stop unlawful child marriages.
Earlier this week ISIS-linked Abu Bakr Al-Janabi, a prolific user of social media, put a call out on Twitter for women to join the front: “Sisters, find your future husband now, because in the near future the majority will be slaves”.
Frightening ... some Muslim girls being told by their parents that, “if they are not obedient they will be sent off to Syria”.Source: AP
“The Australian Government has a zero tolerance approach to forced marriage and human trafficking — we demonstrate our recognition of the increased threat posed by the ruthless Islamic State by delivering vital, targeted humanitarian aid to assist the most vulnerable,” she said.
A number of Western women, including murdered Australian Amira Karroum and Austrian teenagers Sabina Selimovic and Samra Kesinovic, have already gained notoriety for fleeing to the Islamic State to marry jihadists.
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