Belgium: Forced marriages punishable offense

Belgium is making forced marriages a punishable offense and such marriages will also be annulled. The parliament approved the law proposal Thursday evening.

Belgium is the second country, after Norway, to implement such a law. forced marriages are a serious transgression of women's rights, according to Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx.

Whoever forces somebody to marry by violence or threats will soon risk a prison sentence of one month to two years or a fine of 500-2500 euro. A marriage can be annulled whenever there are serious indications that it was concluded under compulsion.

A Belgian study from 1999 shows that about 25% of Turkish and Moroccan women married under coercion.

Source: DVHN (Dutch)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh my, my. You wouldn't be profiling Muslims would you? They are an innocent peace loving, freedom and liberty loving people. Don'tcha know that? They would never do anything hateful to anyone, especially family members!