Forced marriage in the communities of refugees in Greece. The legal consequences

Abstract

Most of us believe that the phenomenon of forced marriage is something that civilized societies have left behind in our days. Unfortunately, reality comes to override this narrative because according to UNICEF 650 million women today have been forced into marriage . Indeed, the phenomenon of forced marriage is easily seen in the part of the world which is called developing countries, but the massive movement of the population has brought forced marriage in developed countries of the European Union as well. Starting from this observation, in this thesis, I am going to define what forced marriage is, which are the causes and the consequences, and the reason why it is reproduced as practice. This topic concerns especially Greece since it has accepted millions of refugees and migrants since 2015 during the breakout of the so-called “refugee crisis”. I will provide valuable information about forced marriage in the Syrian Arab Republic, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia because forced marriage derives especially from the cultural background of migrants and refugees. Next, I will concentrate on the legal framework of European and International Law and on all the treaties that forbid forced marriage and consider it as a violation of basic human rights. Concerning Greek Law, I will analyze the articles of Greek Civil and Penal law, which refer to forced marriage, and I will present case law from the Greek Courts. In the last part of my thesis, I will explain the International jurisdiction of the Greek Courts concerning forced marriages, which have taken place in Greece or abroad. This thesis aims to inform and make the reader aware of forced marriage giving the tools to recognize and prevent it.