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Forced Marriage from a Gender Perspective

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Forced Marriage from a Gender Perspective DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT C: CITIZENS’ RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS WOMEN’S RIGHTS & GENDER EQUALITY Forced marriage from a gender perspective STUDY Abstract This study provides an overview of the practice of forced marriage in the EU from a gender equality and women’s rights perspective. It analyses the definitions of forced marriage and puts forward a definition from a gender perspective. It also provides an overview of the relevant international/EU legislation, policies and deliberations, as well as national policies, civil law and criminal law (in the 12 Member State that criminalise forced marriage). For those Member States that criminalise forced marriage, the study provides an assessment of the effectiveness and possible consequences of the implementation of the criminal legislation, including an analysis of data and case-law. The study includes a specific chapter focusing on forced marriage within Roma communities and five case-studies specifically focusing on Denmark, Germany, Spain, Slovakia and the UK. The study also puts forward recommendations for improving the response to forced marriage at EU and Member State level. PE 556.926 EN DOCUMENT REQUESTED BY THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY AUTHORS Emma Psaila, Vanessa Leigh, Marilena Verbari, Sara Fiorentini, Virginia Dalla Pozza, Ana Gomez RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR Erika Schulze Policy Department C: Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN ABOUT THE EDITOR Policy Departments provide in-house and external expertise to support EP committees and other parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation and exercising democratic scrutiny. To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its monthly newsletter please write to: [email protected] European Parliament, manuscript completed in February 2016. © European Union 2016. This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. 2 Forced Marriage from a gender perspective ____________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 5 LIST OF TABLES 7 LIST OF BOXES 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9 1. INTRODUCTION 11 1.1. Background 11 1.2. Objective of the study 12 1.3. Methodology 13 2. DEFINITION OF FORCED MARRIAGE 15 2.1. Definition of forced marriage 15 2.1.1. Distinction from arranged marriages and marriages of convenience 19 2.1.2. Gender dimension of forced marriage 20 2.1.3. Elaborating a definition of forced marriage from a gender perspective 23 3. INTERNATIONAL AND EU LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK AND DELIBERATIONS 24 3.1. Legal and policy framework 24 3.1.1. International level 24 3.1.2. Regional level: Council of Europe 28 3.1.3. European Union 29 4. RELEVANT DATA ON AND DRIVERS OF FORCED MARRIAGE 33 4.1. International, EU and national data on forced marriage 33 4.2. Drivers of forced marriage in the EU Member States and difficulties in identifying forced marriage cases 37 5. LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY RESPONSE TO FORCED MARRIAGE AT NATIONAL LEVEL 40 5.1. Civil law provisions relevant to forced marriage 40 5.2. Criminal law provisions relevant to forced marriage 44 5.2.1. Inter-relation between forced marriage and trafficking of human beings 45 5.3. National policies relevant to forced marriage 47 5.4. Forced marriage as a form of gender based violence and avoiding the risk of stigmatisation of migrant or ethnic communities 50 6. IMPLEMENTATION AND CONSEQUENCES OF LEGAL PROVISIONS CRIMINALISING FORCED MARRIAGE 52 3 Forced Marriage from a gender perspective ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 6.1.1. Application of forced marriage criminal provisions in relevant Member States 52 6.1.2. Consequences of criminal legislation 57 7. CASE-STUDIES ON FORCED MARRIAGE IN SELECTED MEMBER STATES WITH A SPECIFIC GENDER EQUALITY PERSPECTIVE 59 7.1.1. Denmark 60 7.1.2. Germany 62 7.1.3. Spain 64 7.1.4. Slovakia 65 7.1.5. The United Kingdom 67 8. THE PRACTICE OF FORCED MARRIAGE IN ROMA COMMUNITIES 69 8.1. The institution of marriage in the Roma communities 69 8.2. Prevalence of forced marriage and related practices in Roma communities 72 8.3. Marital age and the age of victims of forced marriage 74 8.4. National policies targeted at Roma 76 9. CIVIL SOCIETY INITIATIVES 79 10. RECOMMENDATIONS 82 10.1. EU competence to act 82 10.2. Conclusions 82 10.3. Recommendations 84 REFERENCES 86 ANNEX I COUNTRY FICHE ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION AND RELATED SANCTIONS ON FORCED MARRIAGE IN EU MEMBER STATES, EFTA AND CANDIDATE COUNTRIES 107 ANNEX II INFORMATION ON FORCED MARRIAGE CASE-LAW IN EU MEMBER STATES 237 4 Forced Marriage from a gender perspective ____________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ARSIS Association for the Social Support of Youth ASGI Association on Juridical Studies on Immigration CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women CJEU Court of Justice of the European Union CoE Council of Europe CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CSW Commission on the Status of Women EC European Commission EU European Union ECHR European Convention on Human Rights ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council ECPAT End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes ECtHR European Court of Human Rights EEA European Economic Area EFTA European Free Trade Association EP European Parliament EU European Union FGM Forced Marriage Unit FMU Association for the Social Support of Youth FRA European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights GC General Comment 5 Forced Marriage from a gender perspective ____________________________________________________________________________________________ GR General Recommendation GREVIO Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence ICC International Criminal Court ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights LGBT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender JIT Joint Investigation Team LOKK National Organisation of Women’s Shelters in Denmark NGO Non Governmental Association RED Rehabilitation Centre for Ethnic Youth in Denmark SPIRS Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia STATEC National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies TEU Treaty on European Union TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union UN United Nations UNICEF Children's Rights & Emergency Relief Organization UNHRC United Nation Human Rights Committee VAW Violence Against Women 6 Forced Marriage from a gender perspective ____________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 Number of forced marriages in the period 2011-2015 34 TABLE 2 UK: Data identified in the period 2012-2015 36 TABLE 3 Breach of civil law provisions leading to annulment of marriages or sanctions according to the applicable civil law in each Member State 41 TABLE 4 Court cases concerning forced marriage 53 LIST OF BOXES BOX 1 Application of Sharia law in Greece 43 7 Forced Marriage from a gender perspective ____________________________________________________________________________________________ PROJECT MANAGEMENT Marilena Verbari, Sara Fiorentini SENIOR EXPERTS Els Leye (ICRH, International Centre for Reproductive Health) (BE) Noelia Igareda (UAB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) (ES) CONTRIBUTORS AT NATIONAL LEVEL Albania: Qerim Qerimi Austria: Elena Fries-Tersch Belgium: Nathalie Meurens; Laura Jaques Bosnia Herzegovina: Damir Petrovic Bulgaria: Lazarinka Naydenova Cyprus: Nicos Trimikliniotis Czech Republic: Michaela Kopalova; Hana Spanikova Croatia: Alida Ban Pavlovic; Damir Petrovic Denmark: Ulla Jensen Estonia: Mari Tepp Finland: Majia Jappinen France: Abdelhafid Hammaouche; Sophie Morel; Benoit Cavez Germany: Monika Michell Greece: Athina Kosma Hungary: Katalin Adamis-Csaszar Ireland: Gillian Kelly Italy: Marilena Verbari Latvia: Linda De Keyser Lithuania: Dovile Stoskeviciute Luxembourg: Nathalie Meurens; Laura Jaques Malta: Emma Psaila Netherlands: Nienke Van Der Burgt Norway: Tone Linn Waerstad Poland: Karolina Jurkiewicz Portugal: Ana Rita Gil; Gonçalo Moreira Romania: Alexandru Zaciu Serbia: Damir Petrovic Slovakia: Michaela Kopalova; Hana Spanikova Slovenia: Neža Kogovšek Šalamon; Katarina Vučko Spain: Ana Gomez Sweden: Agnes Said Switzerland: Vanessa Leigh; Benoit Cavez United Kingdom: Vanessa Leigh Turkey: Canan Karaosmanoglu 8 Forced Marriage from a gender perspective ____________________________________________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Forced marriage is internationally recognised as a violation of human rights and a form of gender-based violence. In 2011, the Council of Europe adopted the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention). The Convention recognises forced marriage as a serious form of violence against women. It has been signed by 25 EU Member States and ratified by twelve EU Member States. The EU and Member States are
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