"Judges will need training to spot forced marriage - charity"
"On Wednesday, a Private Member's Bill sponsored by National MP Jo Hayes was passed, meaning 16- and 17-year-olds must instead get permission from a Family Court judge to get married.
Mengzhu Fu, the national youth coordinator for migrant charity Shakti told The AM Show it's important to see the marriages not as a cultural practice, but abuse. "It's not necessarily their culture, I would say it's a human rights abuse, and for young people it's really difficult especially if they're 16 and 17," she said. "Over the 70 cases that we've had about half of them were at that age. It's really important to understand that this is a form of gender-based violence." Ms Fu said its important family court judges receive training around the context for the marriages. "It is really important for the judges in this country [now] the Bill is passed to have some training around the cultural context, be able to better detect [a forced marriage]," she said. "Cultural diversity in New Zealand is growing and I think it's really important for organisations like Shakti that have been working on this issue for the past nine years to have some input around how these marriages that are forced are detected."" Read more. |
"Parliament passes Bill to protect teens from forced marriage"
"In the last eight years, there have been over 70 recorded cases of forced marriages here - but the number of women calling ethnic helplines to escape before they're married suggests a much wider problem.
"On average, we've been getting one new case about every two weeks," says Shakti Youth co-ordinator Mengzhu Fu. "We've had ages from 14 up to 29."" Read more. |
"New law will protect minors from forced marriage in New Zealand""The Marriage (Court Consent to Marriage of Minors) Amendment Bill aims to prevent forced marriages of mostly girls, aged 16 and 17 and considered minors by the state, by changing the requirement of consent from parents to a Family Court judge.
Dozens of teens are married in New Zealand each year and Shakti NZ, a community organisation which works with migrant and refugee women of Asian, African and Middle Eastern origin, says it sees the damage done by forced marriage." Read more. |
"Youth unite against rape culture and forced marriages at Auckland march""The young woman recalls being forced into marriage last year.
"My parents pressured me into marriage to the point where my father flew to New Zealand from overseas to try and force me to marry in person." She remembers feeling lost and completely defeated." Read more. |
"Handbook gives advice to migrant and refugee youth escaping domestic abuse."
"A handbook for migrant and refugee youth will be hitting the shelves of schools and public libraries for the first time.
Break Free was created by Shakti Youth after the organisation realised there was a need for greater long-term support for young migrants and refugees who had left abusive homes or safe houses. The book was launched on International Women's Day and the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki has now contributed $5000 towards reprinting copies of the book." Click here to read more. |
"Young migrants want better, earlier teaching about sexual consent in NZ""Shakti has a list of changes which it believes will help address some of these issues.
It wants sexual consent education to begin earlier, to be more culturally sensitive, and to include education on consent between friends and family. It also wants better training on consent for counsellors, teachers and youth workers. And it wants better resourcing of organisations that support sexual violence survivors." Read more. |
"Youth march against sexual violence, forced marriage"
"It's hoped a march through central Auckland on Saturday will silence misconceptions about forced marriage and rape culture.
Shakti Youth is gathering young people from all cultural backgrounds to walk through Britomart this afternoon." Click here to read more. |
"Government U-turns on refuge funding.""Shakti first learned from Voices last week that the funding grant was a one-off payment. This was also the first they had heard that the NCIWR (National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges Inc.) has received a 31 percent funding increase since 2008.
“While we appreciate Minister Anne Tolley’s efforts to secure one-off funding of $50,000 for Shakti Wellington Refuge, it is terribly disappointing to know that the commitment is only for the current year. It is clear that without on-going, long-term contracted funding the Refuge cannot sustain its critical services year after year,” it said in a statement." |
"Break Free - a lifeline for ethnic youth.""Mehwish says the book is vital.
"When you leave Shakti - what happens after that? You don't know anything about the world outside. We did not know anything about our rights. The next 13 years have been a struggle. There was nothing like this book out there. We always thought we were the only ones. When Mengzhu told me about the book I was really happy about it. Me and my sister wanted to contribute."" |
"Students to march for an end to violence and discrimination.""As part of Youth Week 2017, young people, many from migrant and refugee backgrounds, are coming together to demand their voices be counted.Shakti Youth is hosting a youth march to end all violence and discrimination on the 4th of June from 1pm at Britomart. The march will end at Aotea Square, where a number of young speakers will address issues of family violence, racial discrimination and gender inequality."
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Contact us
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National Youth Co-ordinator: [email protected]
Auckland Region Youth Co-ordinator: [email protected] |
phone |
0800 742 584 (0800 SHAKTI)
For non-urgent enquiries: 09 262 3848 |
address |
18 Manukau Station Road, Manukau Central, Auckland.
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