Preventing Early Marriages Amalipe Center ÊÏÉÍÙÍÉÊÇ ÏÑÃÁÍÙÓÇ ÕÐÏÓÔÇÑÉÎÇÓ ÍÅÙÍ This publication has been produced under the project “Preventing Early/Forced Marri- age” with the financial support of the Daphne III Programme of the European Commi- ssion (Reference number JLS/2008/DAP3/AG/1298-30-CE-03124780080). The con- tents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Amali pe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Euro- pean Commission. For the preparation of this publication contributed Deyan Kolev, Teodora Krumova, Aleksey Pamporov, PhD, Ralitsa Sechkova, Smaranda Enache, Judit Kacso Katalin Szikszai, Natassa Arapidou. © Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance — V. Tarnovo, 2011 [email protected],www.amalipe.com © ÀSTARTA, 2011 e-mail: [email protected] ISBN 978-954-350-118-2 AMALIPE CENTER FOR INTERETHNIC DIALOGUE AND TOLERANCE – VELIKO TARNOVO ASTARTA Plovdiv 2011 CONTENTS INSTEAD OF A PREFACE. Preventing early/forced marriages in the Roma community – a mission possible?............................................ 7 PART ONE. Early marriages – an interdisciplinary problem ............................. 15 International studies on early marriages ...............................................................16 Scope and spread ...............................................................................................18 Legal, normative and the institutional framework for preventing early/forced marriages in Bulgaria ...............................................................21 The Roma community in Bulgaria ........................................................21 The Bulgarian legislation on marriage, family and child protection issues............................................................................... 22 Administrative and institutional framework ........................................... 24 Public policies for preventing early/forced marriages in the Roma community .................................................................... 26 Attitudes of social workers and field workers ......................................... 27 Legal, normative and the institutional framework for Preventing Early/Forced Marriages in Romania ............................................................................... 30 The Roma community in Romania....................................................... 32 Romanian legislation governing marriage, family and child protection.................................................................. 34 Public policies and institutions at national level related to the prevention of forced/early marriages ........................................... 36 Public policies related to forced/early marriages at regional and local level................................................................................... 43 Early and forced marriages from the perspective of traditional Roma communities – evaluation of the conducted interviews ........................... 51 Early/forced marriage patterns in the interviewed communities ............... 52 Legal, normative and institutional framework related to early marriages in Greece ....................................................................... 60 The Roma in Greece ......................................................................... 60 The Greek legislation governing marriage, family and child protection ....... 60 Public policies, surveys and institutions related to the prevention of forced/early marriages.................................................................... 69 PART TWO. Survey on the family attitudes of the Roma community.................. 73 Methodology of research ............................................................................ 73 Roma households ...................................................................................... 80 Living conditions ....................................................................................... 87 Marriages and partnerships .........................................................................91 Attitude towards partnerships.................................................................... 102 PART THREE. Local campaigns for prevention of early marriages: motivated activists – organized groups and communities........................... 111 Participants ............................................................................................ 111 Scope ..................................................................................................... 112 Rakovski Municipality ...................................................................... 113 Peshtera ......................................................................................... 116 Rakitovo ......................................................................................... 119 Kuklen and Perushtitsa .................................................................... 122 Kardam, Popovo Municipality .............................................................. 124 Peshtera .........................................................................................125 Rakitovo .........................................................................................126 Kuklen ........................................................................................... 127 Kardam .......................................................................................... 128 Vodoley, Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo ............................................... 130 Tundja Municipality ......................................................................... 132 Vratsa Municipality ..........................................................................134 Nadezhda neighbourhood, Sliven .......................................................... 135 Nov Pat neighbourhood, Vidin ............................................................ 138 Regional planning of social services, 2010: the Roma component and the prevention of early marriages in the new regional strategies .................... 145 Social services and the interventions for the inclusion of vulnerable ethnic communities with focus on Roma ........................... 146 Access to existing service for the groups at risk from Roma community...... 148 Targeted measures: Centres for development of vulnerable ethnic communities and mediators....................................................... 151 Employing mediators from the Roma community: ..................................154 PART FOUR. Preventing early marriages today: investing in the future of the Roma community ......................................................................... 159 Early marriages in Bulgaria ...................................................................... 160 Early marriages in Romania ...................................................................... 162 Early marriages in Greece ........................................................................ 163 Principles and models for the prevention of the early marriages ..................... 164 Annex 1. DECLARATION TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION OF ROMA WOMEN1 .......................................169 Abbreviations .................................................................................................. 172 INSTEAD OF A PREFACE Preventing early/forced marriages in the Roma community – a mission possible? Early marriages in the Roma community (the point is actually about cohabitation, family creation and not about “marriage”, because the legal act of marriage is not present or in most cases even not possible) is a topic, which is currently attracting the attention of the so called “general public” and “public opinion”. On the one hand, early marriages are often combined with “arranged marriages” and even “forced marriages”: usually it is the parents who initiate this form of cohabitation. Very frequently, this leads to “dropping out”, i.e. to early school leaving, which is related to limiting the further appropriate social realization of the person. Early marriages are usually followed by “early births”, because – at least with the traditional Roma families, as well as the marginalized ones) the married woman is expected to prove that she can give birth: she is highly appreciated as the continuer of the family and if she cannot fulfil this role, she has to bear one of the heaviest stigmas. Frequently, different forms of domestic violence, divorces, and diseases among these young mothers accompany early marriages, etc. Therefore, we could see a whole series of negative phenomena, to which any European society is (or at least should be) painfully sensitive. On the other hand, early Roma marriages seem out of the ordinary, exotic and inexplicable: a remainder of the “non-European marriage model” (typical for the people to the east of the Trieste – St. Petersburg line of John Hajnal). This “exotics” is often related to the stigmatization of the whole Roma community as a backward and unable for development generator of children. It is accompanied by the even more definite ignoring of the truth that, not so long ago, early marriages were typical for the majority of the nations to the east of Trieste – St. Petersburg line (and a little earlier – for all European nations), and by neglecting the fact that not all Roma groups, families and social strata practice early marriages. As a result of the above, the public interest in early Roma marriages in Central and