An arranged marriage has been foiled by the 17 year old girl herself, who called in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in a bid to save herself from being sent to Lebanon to partake in the marriage.
Her mother had booked her a flight from Australia to Lebanon and her father and stepfather supported the marriage. The frightened girl, in a move that took a lot of courage, considering the pressure her family must have been putting on her and the repercussions of reporting it, called the AFP. Having heard about the airport watch list, she wanted to put herself on it and in this way not be allowed to leave the country.
The matter went to the Federal Court who has banned her family from removing her from the country or from threatening her for failing to obey them.
A difficult situation - family pressure, a cultural norm and the ability of a young girl to take her own future in her hands and put her foot down against being forced to do something she did not want.
Youth in Australia are empowered to have their own free will, something young people in other countries of different cultures do not always have. While this would have been a part of the girl's culture, I fail to see how a girl being brought up in Australia and knowing that her future does not need to be decided for her, could have partaken in an arranged marriage.
I'm not sure about the enforceability of the court order regarding no threats, particularly if the girl is living in the family home. May her family understand and respect the decision made!
There are so many people who use Facebook these days, it's a global phenomenon. Yet changes to Facebook's privacy policy means that users are no longer able to hide their profile picture from the search. I tested this by logging out of my own account and searching, I was horrified by the amount of information which showed up, such as current location, interests and networks. Prior to the change my information and photo was private. Some tweaking of the previously sufficient settings removed all but the profile picture. It's quite alarming to know that users profile pictures are now viewable to all who do a facebook search and I am seriously considering how useful it is as a communication tool with friends against the invasion of privacy that the viewable profile picture poses.
The news of the 18 year old Sydney girl who met two men she linked with on Facebook and was murdered is mind-boggling. Girls continue to meet people they meet only online and continue to get killed yet none of them seem to think that it will happen to them. It's common sense not to do such things yet so many of them do. If they must meet, then do it in the CBD and don't go anywhere else. It's a sad occurrence when the internet makes it easier for evil people to carry out such crimes. You think, who would meet strangers they have never met at an out of the way railway station and agree to go camping with them overnight? Yet the poor girl did make those plans and lost her life. It's a poor choice with consequences that will impact on her friends and family for years to come. May she rest in peace and may the man arrested over her murder be given a lifetime in jail.
All the best to everyone for the New Year, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and may the resolutions you may make for the new year be achieved!
Mine should probably be posting more on Orble! Posting less sporadically would mean more of a benefit after all!
Add Comments
Comments (5)
Read More
