First of all, thank you for inviting me.
I think it's very important that you as a nation take a clear stand against forced marriages and child marriages. We need to protect women and children against these offences.
Generally, there will always be a risk that a family will do it anyway, maybe in secret, or it will perform the marriage in another country per se. Because of extended families, it's very difficult to check if they are doing right or wrong. Are they making arrangements for marriages in or outside Canada? Many people will be eager to help in covering up if something is being planned.
When it comes to polygamy, we have to take into consideration that if they only divorce, the civil marriage will, in their own eyes, still be valid and the man can legally marry one more woman. This is difficult to know and will often take place in silence and without any paperwork being done.
There can be a risk of the first wife being dumped in the country of origin and left to a life of great danger, violence, or even death.
We have to take reprisals against the women or youngsters into consideration whenever we're dealing with these families. For example, you mentioned a family violence program. My concern about this would run the risk of reprisals against the women or the young girls, for example. The family will feel that it's because of the youngster, that the youngster is to blame for their having to take part in this program and because of her, the authorities will know about their private matter.
I don't think the law can do it by itself. Because of the tight family ties and the extended families, it's very difficult to control what is going on. There are so many people who would like to help someone to do this and, furthermore, is expected to assist in actions like these. Honour and promises within families or communities are so important and strong issues that some people will go far in order to protect this.
I'm sure some of the people assisting in these cases are not even that eager to do it themselves, but they feel they have no option because of the strong social control, as we also see here in Denmark.
As I said, the law can't do it by itself. You have to have a strong extended support system for the potential victims. You have to have counselling, hotlines, campaigns raising awareness, and educated professionals who can spot these problems and refer the youngster to the right place for help, to make it a topic in schools, and so on.
I would ask you to take three things into consideration. It would include having a very extended support system in addition to the laws. Mindsets are very difficult to change. The law can't do it alone. It has to be combined with raising awareness, teaching the youngsters empowerment, so some of them will be able to fight their own battle or ask you for help.
Family ties are very strong. The youngsters are very loyal to their parents or families and they are very aware of the consequences. This will make your aim difficult. That's why we in Denmark haven't had any cases go to court because, for example, when the youngster goes to the police, suddenly she will come back and will say no, that it was a lie, that she didn't mean it, that her family would never do this.
Therefore, in addition, you need to have this very strong support system I think.