Forced Marriage in Austria. Study on the Prevalence among Juveniles

The prevalence study on forced marriage and preparatory activities was conducted by means of an Austria-wide online survey of child and youth welfare workers. This confirmed the estimate of 200 girls and young women affected annually in Austria, which was first made about ten years ago. The survey which was conducted in the first half of 2022 focused on the cases of (suspected) forced marriage processed in 2021; in addition, topics such as possibilities for action by child and youth welfare services, training needs and the like were addressed. By focusing on the area of child and youth welfare and deliberately not taking into account possible other sources of information, the risk of multiple counts could be excluded.

252 persons participated in the survey, 34 of whom provided information on a total of 54 cases of (suspected) forced marriage. Thirteen of the 54 cases were reported from Vienna, nine from Upper Austria and eight from Tyrol - a good one in two cases was handled in one of these three provinces. In more than half of the cases, the suspicion of forced marriage was already clearly communicated when support began; in the others, the endangerment report was made for other reasons and the suspicion arose through the recognition of warning signs during support.