Event: round table on forced marriages and other related violence

Tuesday 11 March @ 8:00 CETEvent: round table on forced marriages and other related violence On Tuesday morning, ECR LIBE Coordinator Assita Kanko will hold a roundtable and breakfast meeting with survivors of forced marriage and marital captivity. The roundtable is organised in collaboration with the ECR working group connecting and empowering female conservative leaders. The meeting will focus on the horrible situation of ‘marital captivity’. The term describes a situation whereby a person is trapped in a forced marriage. In the vast majority of cases the trapped person is a woman and she cannot get a divorce from her abusive marriage because the marriage is concluded under religious law, usually sharia law, in a foreign country. Marital captivity is more common than you think, especially in certain immigrant communities. The Netherlands is the first EU country that adopted legislation aimed at helping women in this situation. We have invited several experts and witnesses who have experienced and escaped marital captivity in Europe. The event will be attended by European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael Mc Grath and European Vice-President, Antonella Sberna. The meeting will take place on March 11 from 8:00 - 9:30 in the European Parliament, Strasbourg. Programme: - 08:00 – 08:10 Welcome and introductions - 08:10 to 09:00 Exchange of views with the witnesses and MEPs - 09:00 to 09:30 Conclusion and next steps