BRUSSELS - ALDE, together with Dutch NGO Femmes For Freedom organized a hearing bringing together a broad audience of academics, experts, politicians and EU stakeholders, to discuss the issue of women forced to stay in a marriage, known as martial captivity.
Former President of EPF, Hilde Vautmans, and Co-Chair of the EPF member MEPs for SRR in the European Parliament, Sophie in’t Veld (both MEPs for ALDE) shared their insight. The verdict was that the women affected by this harmful attitude to marriage lack independence and so are limited regarding their participation in society. This phenomenon keeps women trapped in a marriage and thus in a position of discrimination and oppression. However, it does not receive the same attention as forced marriage.
Various concrete recommendations were made following the hearing, including that marital captivity should be recognized as gender-based discrimination and violence, that European Parliament reports should include references to the injustice of marital captivity to generate increased awareness, and that EU Member States should give a voice to the women and girls affected by the phenomenon and raise awareness from a young age through school curricula.
