Asma is 15 years old and has just attended a family party. She had been told it was to celebrate her getting older, but it turned out to be her own wedding, to a distant cousin whom she had only seen a couple of times before. Her parents explain to him that she was engaged to him since she was little and that the time had come to marry them.
Forced marriage constitutes a manifestation of violence against women for reasons of honor that is still little known in Spain. There is hardly any official data on its incidence, beyond those that come from the Ministry of the Interior in relation to trafficking in women forced into marriage.
We know that these forced marriages occur in Spain thanks to various academic research. Between them, a first quantitative study based on an online survey of entities that may have encountered these cases, followed by two qualitative analyzes with forensic and healthcare professionals and with victims. These studies have made it possible to confirm the existence of forced marriages in most of the Spanish territories explored – especially in Catalonia, Madrid, Andalusia, Valencia and Aragon -, establish a profile of the victim, know their dynamics, know how these cases arise. and how the victims experience them, determine the degree of professional awareness and the most appropriate way to address them.
The groups at risk are minors or very young women. They are usually still in the care of their parents and are mostly of Spanish nationality or have legal residence in Spain, although their families come mainly from the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The mechanisms to force them to marry are low intensity, involving, related to attachment to tradition and their belonging to a certain community.
The mechanisms to force them to marry are low intensity, involving, related to attachment to tradition and their belonging to a certain community. They are linked to the observance of patriarchal dictates, rather than the use of overt violence or intimidation. Forced marriage is thus a consensual practice, if not directly favored by the families of these girls.
The events that come to the attention of specialized entities, which may be just the tip of the iceberg, do so when the victims themselves come seeking help. This happens only if they feel sufficiently empowered, especially when their residential situation in Spain is legal.
Cases are detected by specialized entities, normally when the marriage has already been contracted and the situation has escalated into family violence. Furthermore, victims are reluctant to turn to criminal justice for protection, since this puts them at the crossroads of having to denounce their own family.
Institutional and legal responses
We would have to place the well-being and protection of victims as a goal that guides the design of institutional and legal responses to address it, as conventional law obliges us to do.
Victims are reluctant to resort to criminal justice to obtain protection, since this puts them at the crossroads of having to denounce their own family.
From an institutional perspective, we should avoid blaming communities where forced marriage is still accepted, adopting an intersectional perspective. All of this without failing to pay attention to the relevance that certain group and community dynamics have in explaining their production.
It would be advisable, therefore, to take actions to eradicate this patriarchal practice by consensus with key agents within the affected communities, using women and men belonging to these communities who can act as bridges to facilitate communication with them.
The institutional response should also be focused on the training of professionals in the educational, health, and social and community work fields, especially who can detect these cases and intervene in risk situations, before the marriage takes place, favoring the reporting. of victims in safe environments.
Preventive work should not be neglected, influencing certain groups, so that they avoid resorting to forced marriage. The system should also not forget to offer adequate alternatives to women already trapped in a forced marriage that they do not know how to end.
The inclusion of a specific crime in the penal code is not enough, which is practically the only thing that Spanish legislators have done so far
The regulatory response to forced marriage must take into account that it primarily affects very young women who may feel very lost if they are separated from their family of origin. Therefore, to address it, the inclusion of a specific crime in the criminal code is not enough, which is practically the only thing that Spanish legislators have done so far.
As is being done in other European countries, it is necessary that we resort to tools specific to civil and family law to avoid the production and recognition of these marriages. The minimum age for marriage should be raised to 18 without exception, the possibility of marrying by proxy should be limited and certain marriages celebrated abroad should be recognised.
In addition, legal protection mechanisms similar to the British forced marriage protection orders, which can be adopted by civil judges, would have to be introduced. With this we would prevent victims from having to denounce their families to obtain protection.
Finally, immigration regulations would have to offer residential regularization to these women regardless of whether they report the facts. Guaranteeing that your stay in Spain is not in danger is the best tool for these cases to surface.
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