- Collection of main literature on forced marriages
1.1History
Daniela. Lombardi(2008), Storia del matrimonio dal medioevo a oggi (History of marriagefrom the Middle Ages to the present), Bologna, il Mulino,
DanielaLombardipresentsthe historical evolutionof marriagefrom the Middle Agesto the present. Marriage hasbeen for centuriesan articulated jointessentialin people's lives. The forms of thisimportantrite of passagearechangedover time, reflectingthe transformationof family relationshipsand gender relationsand the actionof regulationexercised bysecular and religiousauthoritieson individual behavior. The bookdrawsa pathstarting from thesituationin the Middle Agesinwhich to get marriedwas a processspread out over time, with the promiseto cohabitation, enshrinedjustby the consentof both partners andregisteredas a contract,untilthe modern agein which the marriageit is statedas a factmarked byreligiousrites andstrict rules, albeit with large differences betweenCatholic and Protestantcountries, and finallyconcludes with thecontemporarysituation, which has seen a secularizationof marriage and agradualemancipation ofprivate sphereof thelegal regulationof the state.
Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, Michela De Giorgio (1996), Storia del matrimonio(History of marriage), Roma-Bari Laterza,
It 's the first complete reconstruction of marriage in Italy from the tenth to the twentieth century. On the specific issue see: Ida Fazio, Percorsi coniugali nell’Italia moderna (Conjugal pathways in modern Italy), pp 151- 214
Michela De Giorgio (1992), Le italiane dall’Unità a oggi (The italian women from the Unification of Italy to the present day), Roma-Bari , Laterza
Especially Chapter V "Scene of marriage", pages. 273-376.
Curated byPiero Melograniin cooperation withLucetta Scaraffia (1988), La famiglia italiana dall’Ottocento a oggi (The Italian family from the nineteenth century to the present), Roma-Bari, Laterza
The transformations of the Italian family from the early nineteenth century to the last decades of the twentieth century. On the specific issue see the essaysof: Lucetta Scaraffia, Essere Uomo, essere donna, pages 193-258, especially in paragraph 3. “Il Matrimonio”, e Diana Vincenzi Amato, La famiglia e il diritto(The family and the law), pages. 629-696.
Daniela. Lombardi (2001)Matrimoni di antico regime (Marriages of the old regime),Bologna, Il Mulino
The book analyzes the importance that the marriage took for the church and the secular laws, through an analysis that links one side to cultural and social rituals and other legislative and procedural problems.
Daniela Danna(2012), Matrimoni per forza o per onore(Marriages by force or by honor), in Femministe a parole. Grovigli da districare (Feminists in words. Tangles to untangle)a cura di Sabrina Marchetti, Jamila M. H. Mascat, Vincenza Perilli, Roma, Ediesse
The essay explores the different forms of consent to the marriage and shift from arranged marriages to forced marriages, taking into account "the gray area between the forcing and acceptance", especially for daughters and sons of immigrants born and raised in our country . Matter where the public sphere will be asked to react.
Franca Balsamo (2003), “Famiglie di migranti. Trasformazioni dei ruoli e mediazione culturale” (Migrant families. Transformations of the roles and cultural mediation), Roma, Carocci
The families of migrants, their deconstruction and reconstructions, strategies for adaptation and mediation between two worlds, between memory and project the transformations and reversals of roles between men and women, adults and children, families on the move, reality and symbol of the new intimate relationships and regulations, at the same time, the post-modern society and new metamorphosis of identity. These are the contents of the book in broad termswhich delves themes 'gender sensitive'.
Giovanna Campani (2000), Genere, etnia e classe. Migrazioni al femminile tra esclusione e identità (Gender, ethnic origin and class. Female migration between exclusion and identity), Pisa, ETS
The book deals with the role and status of women in the transition from society of origin to the host society, social action of migrant / immigrants women.
1.2Research
Daniela Danna (2008) Ricerca “Per forza, non per amore”: i matrimoni forzati in Emilia Romagna, Bologna
Firstresearch in Italyon the phenomenonof forced marriages, the survey was conducted byDanielaDanna,researcher at the Departmentof Social Studiesof the Faculty ofPolitical Sciences, University of Milan,on behalfof the AssociationofTerreTramaand hascompleted in 2008. The phenomenon has beeninvestigatedthrough 33experimentsreported byvictims or theoperators of therefuges.
Zonta Club Moncalieri, Area 3 – Distretto 30 (2007),Ricerca I matrimoni forzati nell’Europa multiculturale
A report on forced marriages in which the phenomenon is introduced based on his theoretical definition. The text explains how some European countries such as France, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands, have established the preventive measures and support for girls victims who require help and presents some legal tools to fight the FM. The report investigates the phenomenon in Italy through an interview with two women, a Moroccan and a Somali, who live in Italy for several years The second part describes two investigations into the phenomenon, one made in Belgium and one in Switzerland, as well as the recommendations of the Council of Europe.
Prof. Esoh Elamè (2011), Ricerca- azione partecipata sulleVittime della tratta di esseri umani, dei Crimini d’onore e dei matrimoni forzati nell’unione europea, Daphne Programme –Project RapVite ref. JLS/2008/DAP3/AG/1386
The purpose of this research is aimed to capture the perspective of migrants on these issues. It is not therefore a research objective and descriptive trafficking, crimes of honor and Forced marriages, but the attempt to understand, through the eyes of migrants, their awareness and knowledge of these phenomena. The research was organized in two phases: a qualitative, through the use of in-depth interviews and stories of life, the other quantitative, through administration of questionnaires to a sample of about 2500 migrants living in 11 European countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain
Anna Alessi - Stefania Campisi - Maria Rosa Lotti (2011), Rapporto ricerca Sicilia,Daphne Programme Project IRIS JLS/2008/DAP3/AG/1246 – 30CE03119160027, Palermo
Survey on gender-based violence against women with a specific focus on forced marriages, forced sexual relations, genital mutilation and sexual harassment in the workplace, with specific attention to immigrant women. Examined how the different systems of intervention to the prevention and taking care of these situations. The report analyze the local contexts where the project was carried out, illustrating the highlights that emerged from the investigations at local level.
Anna Alessi, Encarnación Bodelón González, Stefania Campisi, Cristina Fernández Bessa, Daniela Heim, Maria Rosa Lotti, Gemma Nicolás Lazo, Maura Misiti, Roberta Pellegrino, Francesca Rinesi, Michela Salvucci (2011)Violenza contro le donne nei contesti migratori di Italia e Spagna: conoscenza e percezione delle pratiche tradizionali dannose nei sistemi socio-sanitari Daphne Programme Project IRIS JLS/2008/DAP3/AG/1246 – 30CE03119160027, Palermo
The research activities began by reconstructing local scenarios and national contexts, through a desk-survey that gathered social-demographic data, legislation, programs, projects on the selected issues, which was followed by the quantitative and qualitative surveys and a systematic review of the literature. The surveys investigated on the approaches of health-care and social workers in the cities of
Palermo, Mazara del Vallo (Trapani), Pescara, Teramo and Barcelona. Four research reports were produced and in additionto this final report three local reports were published on the project website: the Regions of Sicily, Abruzzo, and Catalonia.
1.3Guidelines and Recommendations
Linee Guida e Raccomandazioni (2011), Daphne Programme Project IRIS JLS/2008/DAP3/AG/1246 – 30CE03119160027, Palermo
This document collects, summarizes and provides some basic information in the field of gender violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, revised in the key women's rights as part of human rights. The information is complemented by a bibliography and a collection of websites useful to those seeking to deepen their knowledge of the phenomena and wants to find tools
for action to prevent and combat, without claiming to be exhaustive.
Linee guida per buone pratiche in casi di violenza domestica(2008) Trame di Terre
Translation of the guidelines of the "Southall Black Sisters" founded in London in 1979 to combat racism and sexual discrimination against women and girls belonging to ethnic minorities. The Southall Black Sisters have fundamental importance in the development of political action from below that has led, in England, the development of national policies to combat forced marriages and honor crimes, including a Designated Tackling forced marriages and the law of 2007 (Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act
Piattaforma italiana “Lavori in Corsa: 30 anni CEDAW” in riferimento al VI Rapporto presentato dal Governo italiano nel 2009 (2011), RAPPORTO OMBRA, Italia
FORCED MARRIAGES IN ITALY Page 155/159: Analysis of the Italian situation and recommendations
1.4Investigations by journalists
Giommaria Monti, Marco Ventura (2011), Hina. Questa è la mia vita,Casale Monferato, Piemme
The book traces the story of the girl killed by her father because he refused to conform to the traditions of the Pakistani community. It 's the story of a girl like so many who paid with their lives the devastating effects of prejudice and ignorance, is killed by her father because he refused the marriage that her parents had combined with a cousin in Pakistan.
ONAL Ayse (2009), Delitti d'onore. Storie di donne massacrate dai familiari , Einaudi
A tragic, exciting narrative report on the shattered lives of victims and executioners. The journalist Ayse Onal interviewed imprisoned men sentenced for killing in the name of '' honor ', wives, daughters or sisters and told the stories of these women. Stories of forced marriages, beatings, humiliation, violence and loneliness, but also stories of courage and love.
1.5Press articles and magazines
In the last five years the newspapers and magazines have published numerous articles on the phenomenon of forced marriage, entered in the chronicles from the murder of Hina Saleem (Gujrat, 1985 - Zanano Sarezzo, August 11, 2006), Pakistani girl killed in Italy by his father as punishment for not to want adapt to the traditional uses of native culture. Both news articles that related violence linked to harmful cultural traditions, and insights that analyze different aspects of social, religious, cultural (and associated stereotypes) about the phenomenon, and even on the italian draft laws and initiatives taken at Community level or global to combat FM. We have identified no. 23 articles on the most different titles; Christian Family, The Republic, The Journal, The fact daily, The Unit, La Stampa, to name but the most famous ones. In addition, many websites and blogs dedicated to women's rights, childcare, or violence against women or groups of women show opinions, insights, documents, about the phenomenon, the European directives to combat it, to Italian initiatives in this respect.
- Description of main legal framework at national level:
In Italy the phenomenon of forced marriages has grown exponentially with the increasing immagration of the families coming from the Indian subcontinent and other arabic countries, even if no official census nor a legislation take this matter. into account.
It has recently been observed that even if the arranged marriage is a practice which is normally tolerated by the different cultures in the above mentioned countries of origin, there is a sort of “short circuit” when the families migrate and they try to reproduce it in the host country. So with the second generations born in Italy the arranged marriage has become a “combined forced marriage”, thereof a violence on the person: in fact from the simple proposition of the partner, there is now also the coercion, the menaces and violence.The latter should not be intended as only physical, that is easier to identify, but it can be exercised also in subtler psychological forms, that can be expressed by stigmatizatizing, banning, marginalizing the “non compliant” member of the family and religious community. This custom is a consolidated practice and the religions do not play a central role in this regard.
The distinction between the two practices is significant both with regards to the public action and on the legal.grounds. For instance even in Italy, just until a decade ago, the custom was that it was the family that introduced the suitors to the daughter or to the son. This habit was related to a conception of family whose members were much more united among them than nowadays. There was a trust in the experience of the adults and therefore in their choice of the life partner, and the importance of the falling in love was decreased in favour of more substantial criteria referred to an enduring marriage (economic certainty above all).
2.1Civil law applicable in cases of forced marriages
According to the Italian law the marriage is a “juridical act” of negotiable type. It is a complex family-law institution composed by two elements. The first is an exchange of consents between two people of different sex; the second is the declaration of the civil officer.
It shall be distinguished in:
Civil marriage; it is celebrated by a civil officer according to article 107 et seq. of the Civil Code;
“Matrimonio Concordatario” according to the canon law it is celebrated by a Catholic minister . The State recognizes the civil effects of this type of marriage, if it is entered in the records of Registry Office;
“Non Catholic marriage” is celebrated by a different minister of one of the other religions recognized by the State and it can have civil effects according to the law regulating the relationships between that religion and the State.
The relationship deriving from the marriage is regulated by the law and it lasts until:
The death of one spouse
Or
The judicial dissolution of the bond caused by the divorce (in case of catholic marriage it is named : “cessation of the civil effects of the marriage” because the religious bond is indissoluble)
Or
The judicial declaration of nullity (due to different causes such as the mental incapacity at the time of the celebration or the consent following a violence or a mistake, particularly when the consent has been extorted through the violence or determined by an exceptional severe fear due to factors external to the spouse (article 122 Civil Code).
The Italian law also provides for the personal separation of the spouses (Article 150 Civil Code) which determines the cessation of the cohabitation, that can end with the de facto reconciliation (Article 157 Civil Code) and –above all: after three years it permits to apply for the divorce.
The above mentioned separation can be:
Judicial (Article 151 Civil Code) when it is pronounced by a sentence of the Tribunal on the instance of one or both the spouses,presupposes the establishment of facts that would render the continuation of married life intolerable or that can have a serious and damaging impact on the upbringing of the children. It can be stated with a charge to one or to both of the spouses when it is ascertained that it has been caused by a behavior which is contrary to the duties of marriage (fidelity, cohabitation, support etc as to Article 15, subsection 2 of the Civil Code);
Consensual (by mutual consent) as to Article 158 of the Civil Code, when the spouses agree on the separation and on the conditions settling their lives after the separation; it is a negotiated agreement that must be submitted to the control of the Tribunal, which takes into account also the interest of minors as to Article 158, subsection 2 of the Civil Code;
The consequences of the divorce are: patrimonial, with the obligation to provide maintenance by periodical payments according to the means of the spouses as to Article 5, subsection 6 of the Law 898/1970; loss of the inheritance rights; right to a percentage of the severance payment of the former spouse as to Article 12 bis of the Law 898/1970; the dissolution of the joint estate. On the other hand, as to the personal consequences, they are: change in the civil status as to Article 89 Civil Code; loss of the surname of the husband added by the wife to her own as to Article 5 subsection 2, Law 898/1970; retaining of the right of healthcare by the mutual insurance fund of the other spouse as to Article 5, subsection 11, Law 898/1970.
The most critical factor which impedes an effective protection to the victims of a Forced Marriage lies in the impossibility to verify the consent given to a marriage in order to recognize its validity in Italy.
The marriage which has been validly contracted abroad is deemed to be recognized in Italy by virtue of the principle of the favor matrimonii (Law 218/1995). To this end the original marriage act issued by the local police officer must be translated and legalized. Then the spouses must transmit it to the Italian Consolar authority abroad which provides to forward it to Italy in order enter the certificate in the civil registers of the competent municipality.
Alternatively the Italian spouse can present the act, translated and legalized, directly to the Italian municipality where he lives (as to Article 12 subsection 11, Decree of the President of the Italian Republic 396/2000). So in Italy the validity of the consent to the marriage given by the woman in the country of origin it is not tested.
The acts by issued by the countries adhering to the Vienna Convention of the 8th September 1976, that provides for the issuance of a multilingual form are exonerated from the legalizing and traduction. Those countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzergovina, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldavia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.
The woman victim of Forced Marriage who wants to apply for the annulment for a defect in consent is obliged to follow the normal jurisdictional procedure through the action for the annulment of the marriage, which implies long times and relevant costs without receiving an adequate protection.
The status of spouse derives from the institution of “marriage”, the only legal instrument recognized by the Italian legal system for the relationship of a couple formed by a man and a woman, which is considered by the Italian Constitution (Art. 29) a requirement for legitimate filiation. The Italian legal system does not recognize the status of family members to more uxorio cohabiting couples (the so-called “de facto couples”), as repeatedly stressed by the Constitutional Court. In several judgments, in fact, the Court specified that Article 19 of the Consolidated Act on Immigration is not unconstitutional insofar as it does not prohibit the expulsion of third-country nationals cohabiting more uxorio with an Italian citizen (Constitutional Court, ord. 313/2000; Constitutional Court, ord. 481/2000).