Progress & advocacy in Europe

Femmes for Freedom has initiated a broadly supported international movement in which various organizations work together to influence laws and regulations concerning marital captivity at the European level. This is what we have achieved:

• (2013) Agenda-setting of marital captivity via the European Caucas at CSW57 at the United Nations (in collaboration with International Alliance of Women).
• (2016) Recognition of marital captivity by CEDAW Committee.
• (2018) Femmes for Freedom collaborated with ALDE to organize a hearing at the European Parliament in order to raise awareness for martial captivity at the European level. During this hearing, several experts in legislation, martial captivity and informal marriages discussed marital captivity and recommendations for combating it. (The report on the hearing is available in English and French)
• (2019) Femmes for Freedom organised a side event at PACE in collaboration with Pieter Omtzigt, Kerstin Lungdren, Lord Anderson and the European Centre for Law and Justice. In the panel, the consequences of marital captivity and the interpretation of sharia law for European women were highlighted.  
• (2020): Margreet de Boer, member of the Council of Europe, presented a motion at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to find a solution for marital captivity.
• (2021) Margreet de Boer was appointed as rapporteur by PACE. She is overseeing the making of a report on marital captivity in member states of the Council of Europe.
• (2021) Nathalie Delattre, French Senator, submitted an amendment to the French Senate in order to combat martial captivity. Unfortunately, the amendment was not passed in the Senate.
• (2021) Samira Rafaela, Euro-parliamentarian, has submitted questions to the European Commission about martial captivity in the European Union. The European Commission has answered these questions.
• (2021) Assita Kanko, Euro-parlementairan, gave a statement on marital captivity at the European Parliament.