ONLY a few years ago, if an Australian teenager was forced by her family or other members of the community to leave the country to be married to and serve a much older stranger, there was little authorities could do.

In fact, even if they could, there was very little that police, community leaders, or anyone else aware of the situation would have done.

Forced marriage was considered a private matter, an issue too culturally sensitive to be admonished, and too far removed from what was accepted as the Australian way of life to be intervened in.

Criminal legislation was introduced to address the issue in 2013, and updated just last year to change that, but clearly, the problem still exists.

And according to frontline workers who deal with Australian girls trying to escape forced marriages or those at risk of becoming child brides, the blinkered attitudes still exist too.

A Sydney woman has today revealed she tried to report multiple counts of child marriage involving girls as young as 12, and was completely ignored.

Bee al-Darraj, 24, told The Australianshe had contacted multiple authorities concerning the forced marriage of girls she knew at her Sydney Islamic school.

The Iraqi-born student says she was ignored by the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.

The NSW government only last month declared the state was in the grip of a child bride crisis.

Family and Community Services Minister Brad Hazzard said NSW experienced a “tsunami” of girls being taken overseas and forced to wed.

A girl under the age of 15 is forced into marriage every seven seconds around the world, according to a report from the Save the Children charity released earlier this month.

But although forced marriage legislation is in place to crack down on the practice, the AFP says there is nothing that can be done about the cases Ms al-Darraj reported.

Speaking with news.com.au, Anti Slavery Australia director Jennifer Burn said she was “very concerned”, but not completely surprised to learn of Ms al-Darraj’s ordeal. She says greater community awareness is needed to tackle forced marriage.

“Historically underage marriage or forced marriage was often seen as a private matter, but there has been a shift in Australia since the criminalisation of forced marriage in 2013,” she said.

“In states like NSW, there is mandatory reporting for underage marriage, and that has been somewhat effective. There is a definite shift, but it is still developing.”

Professor Burn is in regular contact with community workers concerned about young girls at risk of forced marriage, and the girls in those situations as well.

She says while many Australians would be surprised to learn child marriage is a major issue in our suburbs, there’s no use turning a blind eye to it.

“There absolutely has to be a greater awareness of this, and the development of really effective communication with a whole range of different groups is key to that,” she says.

“What we need is prevention first, because once it develops into a forced marriage, it’s tragic.”

She says perceptions that marriage is a private or family issue underpins the need for grassroots, community focused prevention programs.

“The reasons behind an attempt to instigate a forced marriage are really very complex, but sometimes involve perceptions of traditional culture and community expectations,” Prof Burn says.

“These are issues that really require a nuanced and respectful response, but at the same time we’ve got to be ready to provide protection. It’s a child protection issue. It’s child trafficking.”

After reporting cases of child marriage with no action to follow, Ms al-Darraj told The Australian she was dismayed by the authorities’ response, that there was no great urgency applied to investigating what was at its core, child trafficking.

“It’s child trafficking and they know it’s wrong, but it’s like they have no idea what to do, and if the girls have already left Australia, they can’t do anything,” she said.

She said as well as young girls being taken out of Australia to marry, she knew of teenagers at her school who were married to older men, and that she had fled her own family at the age of 15 when her mother wished for her to wed.

When she decided to tell authorities about cases that she knew of where Sydney girls had been sent overseas and forced into marriage, Ms al-Darraj said she was told: “we can’t do anything because they are in Iraq.”

The cases, the AFP said in a statement to news.com.au, occurred before specific criminal legislation regarding forced marriage was introduced.

“The legislation was not retrospective so the AFP is not in a position to investigate matters where a marriage or arrangement occurred prior to March 2013,” a spokesman said.

A spokesman for the AFP told news.com.au: If someone is at risk of harm due to forced marriage or any other type of family violence, they should contact police on ‘000’.”