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Committee Opinion | Doc. 14593 | 27 June 2018
Forced marriage in Europe
Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A. Conclusions of the committee
(open)1. The Committee on Social Affairs,
Health and Sustainable Development welcomes the excellent and timely
report prepared by Ms Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo (Monaco, ALDE) for the
Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination.
2. As the Parliamentary Assembly pointed out in its Resolution 1468 (2005), forced marriages and child marriages violate the fundamental
rights of each and every victim, and can in no way be justified.
Appropriate measures must urgently be taken across Europe as recommended
in the draft resolution.
3. The Committee on Social Affairs wishes to propose a few amendments
to reinforce the text.
B. Proposed amendments
(open)Amendment A (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 1, last sentence, replace the words “harmful practices” with the words:
“human rights violations”
Amendment B (to the draft resolution)
At the end of paragraph 3, add the following words:
“, as a child cannot be considered to have expressed full, free and informed consent to a marriage.”
Amendment C (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 4, after the words “a series of”, insert the following words:
“human rights violations, including violations of children’s rights and”
Amendment D (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 5, second sentence, after the word “The”, insert the following words:
“more recent”
Amendment E (to the draft resolution)
After paragraph 7.8., insert the following paragraph:
“refrain from recognising forced marriages contracted abroad except where recognition would be in the victims’ best interests with regard to the effects of the marriage, particularly for the purpose of securing rights which they could not otherwise claim;”
Amendment F (to the draft resolution)
In paragraph 10, after the words “and so-called ‘honour crimes’”, insert the following words:
“, subject of its Resolution 1681 (2009) and Recommendation 1881 (2009),”
C. Explanatory memorandum by Ms Carina Ohlsson, rapporteur for opinion
(open)1. First of all, allow me to congratulate
Ms Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo on the excellent and timely report she
has prepared for the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination.
2. The figures are nothing short of shocking: Despite all our
efforts, millions of (mostly) underage girls are forcibly married
every year. The Council of Europe, including
its Parliamentary Assembly, has been at the forefront of fighting
this serious human rights violation. And it does bear stressing
once again that forced marriage is indeed a human rights violation
(Amendments A and C), lest
it be argued that other rights (such as cultural rights) should
take precedence.
3. The elimination of child marriage, the most prevalent form
of forced marriage, is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals. This is because a child cannot be considered
to have expressed full, free and informed consent to a marriage
before that age (Amendment B).
Unfortunately, in November 2014, the United Nations Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the United Nations
Committee on the Rights of the Child, in a joint general recommendation/general
comment, walked back the recommendation to establish 18 as a minimum
age of marriage, to 16 in exceptional circumstances. I
am very glad that Ms Fresko-Rolfo did not follow this recommendation,
but rather upheld our higher European standards.
4. This is because one must understand that it is very difficult
– even for an 18 year-old, much less a 16 or 17 year-old who may
still live with his/her parents – to resist the pressure brought
to bear on the future spouse(s) by the family environment. As Ms Rosmarie
Zapfl-Helbling (Switzerland, EPP) pointed out in her 2005 report
on forced marriages and child marriages, referring to arranged marriages:
“The family environment may well be so powerful that choice is induced
by upbringing or deference to custom. True, the distinction between
actual pressure and psychological manipulation may be tenuous. The
conceptual niceties hinge on the fact of knowing whether it is possible
to speak of free and informed consent, and largely depend on the socio-cultural
setting. Only a close, detailed analysis allows a proper grasp of
the person’s particular situation.”
5. Ms Zapfl-Helbling therefore pleaded in favour of having marriage
for children below 18 years of age prohibited on principle, since
in her eyes there was no valid cause for the legitimation of underage
marriage (this position was adopted by the Assembly). Nor should
child marriages contracted abroad be recognised. However, Ms Zapfl-Helbling
made one exception: a child who is a victim of a child marriage
should be accorded all rights which he/she could enjoy as husband
or wife and which they could not otherwise claim. This position was
also adopted by the Assembly in 2005 – I believe it should be made
clear that the Assembly’s position thereon has not changed (Amendment E).
6. In conclusion, forced marriages (including child marriages)
violate the fundamental rights of each and every victim, and can
in no way be justified. Appropriate measures must urgently be taken
across Europe as recommended in the draft resolution. I would like
to ask for your support for this resolution, and for its implementation
in each and every one of our member States: Each child bride is
one too many.