Marriage, Migration and Gender: A Site for Crimmigration? An Australian Case Study

Abstract

In this chapter, I fill a gap in the crimmigration literature by analysing the gendered dimensions of ‘marriage migration’ to Australia. For this purpose, I describe three case studies: mail order brides 1980s to 2002, human trafficking for marriage from the 2000s, and the legislative response to forced marriage in 2013. I argue that a focus on prevention of conduct and protection of migrant women (and girls) has overshadowed gender as an important aspect of the gatekeeper role of the crimmigration response. I demonstrate that the ‘intersectional’ features of the crimmigration nexus in the context of marriage migration include gender, culture, and identity; that gender is an embodiment of cu..