#StopBillS7 Twitter Chat
Under the guise of protecting women and girls from forced marriage, Bill S-7 targets racialized communities for increased policing, criminalization and deportation from Canada.
Join the Twitter Chat #StopBillS7 on Thursday December 11th from 12 pm – 4 pm and have your voice heard on the “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices” Act.
The Senate is currently deposing individuals to inform their decision on whether Bill S-7, which includes the “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices” Act, should be passed.
Although forced marriage primarily effects youth aged 16-24, no space has been given for this demographic to speak back to the Canadian government about the Bill. We want to center the voices of survivors and allies in this discussion. The twitter chat #StopBillS7 will explore the following topics:
1. #StopBillS7 – If passed, the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, introduced on November 5, 2014, will serve as another example of institutional barriers to marginalized communities reporting violence and having access to support. It will serve as another example of how our government is failing to listen to survivors and targeting racialized communities for exclusion and deportation from Canada. Let’s share perspectives on the many reasons why Bill S-7 needs to be stopped.
2. #BarbaricCulturalActs –We know that violence happens across all cultures. However, the title of the Act betrays a flawed ideology that locates violence against women as a “cultural” issue which only occurs in some communities, and ignores statistics and women’s lived reality that shocking levels of violence against women occurs every day in Canada across cultures. What forms of violence that can be categorized as “Barbaric Cultural Acts” are occurring right now in Canada? Let’s dismantle the idea that forced marriage, polygamy and other forms of violence only occur in racialized/immigrant communities.
3. #ListenNotSave – – With the recent media coverage of #Jiangate, the question “how can we better support survivors of violence?” is being posed. Survivors of forced marriage have said time and again that the criminalization of forced marriage would only serve to add more barriers to reporting and seeking supports. Let’s share reasons why we need to listen to survivors rather than “save” them
More About The “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices” Act
The Act would amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the Civil Marriage Act and the Criminal Code,proposing to criminalize forced marriage and to bar migrants who practice polygamy (or that are suspected may practice polygamy in the future) from entering Canada and potentially remove permanent residents already in Canada who practice polygamy.
The Act would result in the exclusion, deportation and criminalization of families (or of women themselves), which only serves to further harm women experiencing violence.
About Outburst! Outburst! is a program of the Barbra Schlifer Clinic, for young Muslim women in Toronto who are breaking silence and speaking out about violence.
BILL S-7 : What is it and why is it harmful?
Bill S-7 proposes amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the Civil Marriage Act, the Criminal Code of Canada (CCC), and the Youth Criminal Justice Act amongst others. The following is a brief primer on the key changes introduced by the Bill and why they are so troubling.
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
- Introduces a new ground of inadmissibility to Canada. Permanent residents and Foreign national could be inadmissible if they are or “will be” practicing polygamy with someone who is or “will be” physically present in Canada at the same time.
Making permanent residents and foreign nationals inadmissible solely due to the actual or “potential” practice of polygamy is disproportionate and unnecessary given existing criminal and immigration law prohibitions, and further risks merely targeting certain racialized communities for exclusion from Canada.
Civil Marriage Act
- Introduces a national legal requirement for “free and enlightened consent” as well as a minimum age of 16 before marriage, which apply to all Canadian residents.
Although these changes appear neutral, they are being put forward in a context that targets certain racialized communities that are perceived to have “unenlightened” or “barbaric” practices. In Canada, federal and provincial legislation around contracting marriages allowed for parents to consent to the marriages of minors in some provinces. This situation pre-exists current immigration levels in Canada, and to frame it as an immigrant issue mischaracterizes the situation.
Criminal Code
- Introduces a provision which directly criminalizes the performance and participation in a forced marriage, marriage of persons under the age of 16 years of age, and the removal of a child from Canada for the purposes of subjecting them to a forced or early marriage abroad.
- Proposes the addition of a process by which any person who fears that another person will aid or participate in a forced or early marriage, or remove a child from Canada for that purpose, may cause them to be brought to court and to enter into a peace bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
- Amends the provocation defense, to make it available only to an accused found guilty of murder where the conduct of the victim that provoked the accused to kill amounted to a criminal offence punishable by five years or more in prison
- The enactment of a specific offence in relation to forced marriage or marriage under 16 in Canada’s criminal code is unnecessary, intimidating to the individuals it is intended to protect and harmful, and will only result in driving issues of violence against women further underground. Many survivors of forced marriage have been clear that they would not come forward to report the forced marriage if it meant that their family members would be criminalized or deported.
The amendments do not consider the time frames involved in getting protection orders, and the fact that oftentimes young women are living with their family members and will have to face their abusers to seek such orders, such as a peace bond.
Youth Criminal Justice Act
- Enables youth justice courts to make orders against a young person where there is a fear that a young person may commit a forced or early marriage offence.
The power given to youth court judges to issue orders could result in the preventive detention and monitoring of women and girls under the guise of their own protection. Such orders will create a further barrier to women accessing justice and support as they seek to preserve their autonomy in the face of a paternalistic state.
Bill S-7: Not an Appropriate Response to Violence Against Women
The Bill evidences a lack of meaningful consultation (closed door and invitation only consultations), and a lack of transparency, public participation and debate. The proposed amendments are not informed by or responsive to the experiences of women and girls who have survived violence, including in the form of forced marriage. It frames violence against women as a “cultural” or “immigrant” issue, as opposed to a national one. In fact, violence against women in all forms is a serious problem within Canada:
- In Canada a woman is killed every 6-7 days by a partner or ex-partner.
- There are an estimated 1200 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, half of them since 2000.
- A 2013 report by the South Asian Legal Clinic on forced marriage showed that there were 200 documented cases of forced marriage in Ontario collected over a two year span.
A response that listens and responds to the experiences of survivors of violence would address the practical barriers to justice that entrap women, and which are at the root of violence against women. This response might implement:
- Supports in navigating the often convoluted and traumatizing family, criminal, and immigration legal systems;
- Safe and affordable housing;
- Safe, affordable and accessible childcare;
- Counseling services;
- Other services to assist with settlement/coping with trauma.
Thank you to Johanna Dennie, Rathika Vasavithasan. Shannon Giannitsopoulou and Farrah Khan for co-creating this document.