Good afternoon. I thank this committee for the opportunity to speak on a very important issue, and I commend the Government of Canada for making it a priority to protect women and strengthen their rights.
As president of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow, and a lifelong activist for women's rights, I wish to focus on the South Asian community where many of these problems occur, and where I've had the most interaction with victims of polygamy, proxy marriages, and forced and underage marriages, all at a grassroots level.
Let me begin with forced marriages. You must all be aware of the report by the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, which found that parents, siblings, extended family, grandparents, and religious leaders were all involved in pushing individuals into forced marriages. I will not repeat the statistics, because they have been documented, but I will share that this is a document that came alive for me when I met a young girl at a conference in Kingston a few months ago. When she saw my card, she took me aside, and she spoke to me in my language to tell me her story, which was shocking and sad.
She came here at 16, although her age was forged on her passport to show that she was 18. She was forced by her parents to marry a Canadian citizen, whom she had never met. This was done through a mediator who took a lot of money for this arrangement, promising her a wonderful life with a wonderful man, along with instant Canadian immigration. Once here, the sponsor, who turned out to be not so wonderful, kept forcing her family to send money to him, ostensibly for her upkeep. When they refused, because they had no more to give, he physically abused her and abandoned her, keeping all her papers. She told me that she was literally on the streets, with only the clothes on her back. She did not know where to go, what to do, or where to live.
Some kind neighbours took her in and helped her find her way. They helped her start some education and apply for new documentation, which, as you know—and she told me—is extremely hard. She is still in limbo, facing depression, isolation, and fear. Her complaint, to me, was that the system did not step up to help her, when she is actually the victim. If she had known about the legal system earlier, she would not have felt so powerless.
There are many other cases like hers, and I am here because I don't want to see this happen to a single person, ever again.
With regard to polygamy, the Canadian law regarding polygamy obviously needs to be revisited. In the case of the Muslim community—and I speak of that because I am from the Muslim community—religious leaders are licensed to perform a nikah, which is a Muslim marriage. But they're not obligated to check and see if the woman has been forced into that marriage, or whether polygamy is involved. So I believe there needs to be stronger checks and balances, as well as much more accountability by the religious leadership.
May I point out here that some religious leaders believe that they are justified, by aspects of their faith, to perform polygamous marriages, while violating Canadian law. Therefore, the impact of sharia laws must also be examined by looking at polygamy.
In terms of forced marriages, the question is: how are we tracking forced marriages? I refer to what was mentioned by Shahin, and bring your attention to the U.K., where forced marriage was such a huge challenge. The British government's Home Office has a forced marriage unit, FMU, which has tracked that more than 5,000 people from the U.K. are forced into marriage every year. Eighty-two per cent of the cases involve female victims, and 74% of the cases involve South Asians. Last year, in September, the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act was enforced, making forced marriages a criminal offence. There is also a helpline for women, and law enforcement agencies are trained to look for signs of abuse.
In Canada, we need such a law. We need a helpline and training for our officials, which I believe has just started.
I would also recommend that when potential spouses go to the Canadian consulates outside of Canada for their paperwork, before coming to Canada, they must be made aware of their legal rights. They should be given the contact of a specific helpline, or Canadian organization, that should oversee their progress in this country and track their safety, until such time as their paperwork is complete, or they're able to stand on their own feet.
Upon arrival they should be given orientation with the sponsor present so that both parties are aware of Canadian laws and the rights of individuals.
I stress here both parties, because I believe it's really important, in cases where the sponsor may be a Canadian man, that he should understand that if he's sponsoring a woman to come here, she may want to be educated, she may want to work, and his cultural upbringing or background should not get in the way of her achieving these things that she has the right to do.
Furthermore, I believe the sponsor should also be made to put aside some financial support for the spouse. None of this should be left to the family or the community, which are sometimes partners in crime. Those sponsors found abusing the system should face harsh penalities as a deterrent to potential fraudsters.
I support the idea that people coming to Canada should have language ability, because that is the only way that potential victims will be able to know their rights, and more importantly, to access them.
All of this being said, there is obviously a very fine line between fraud and genuine cases of spousal sponsorship. I don't want to be seen as coming between people in a marriage, but I would like to say that while the spousal sponsorship program is being tightened up, there should be a genuine effort not to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Thank you very much.