06/03/2026
International Women's Day in on 8 March 🚺 This year’s UN theme is "Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls."
Modern slavery is not gender neutral.
Globally, and account for around 54% of people in modern slavery. They are disproportionately represented in forced marriage, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. These are forms of exploitation that often occur inside homes and relationships, away from labour inspectors, unions or workplace protections.
Two-thirds of the estimated 22 million people in are women and girls. Around 12 million girls are married each year, many before turning 18.
In Australia:
🔷 Women and girls make up the majority of people supported by Australian Red Cross' Support for Trafficked People Program
🔷Females made up 87% of identified victim-survivors to the Australian Federal Police in FY24/25
🔷Forced marriage and exit trafficking are consistently among the most reported modern slavery offences for women.
Gender inequality in work, migration, property rights, and legal status creates conditions in which exploitation can occur. Women in informal, isolated or unregulated work often have the least access to legal protection or remedy.
For Anti-Slavery Australia, "Rights. Justice. Action.” means addressing structural gaps, advocating for stronger protections, and making sure survivor support is accessible to the women and girls who need it most.
That's why we run My Blue Sky, Australia's national service for people who are in a forced marriage or worried about being forced to marry: www.mybluesky.org.au.
Australia has made strong commitments to end forced marriage, but a legal loophole still allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with court approval in “exceptional circumstances.” Even if rarely used, it creates ambiguity in a system that should be clear: children should not be married.
You can support calls to close this loophole and set 18 as the minimum marriage age in Australia without exception by signing this petition by Freedom United. Anti-Slavery Australia is pleased to support this call.
🔗 https://www.freedomunited.org/advocate/forced-child-marriage-australia/
