MATRIFOR Approaching forced marriage as a new form of trafficking in human beings in Europe
The MATRIFOR project addresses forced marriage as a new form of human trafficking in Europe. The main objectives of this project are: 1) to study the characteristics of forced marriage in the participating countries in order to better understand the factors, the victims' profiles and other issues which might facilitate forced marriage. This would be used to identify cases of forced marriage; 2) to study the main obstacles and difficulties faced by victims when seeking legal redress in cases of forced marriage in the participating countries; 3) to propose specific legal mechanisms to address forced marriage within the context of European Directive 2011/36/EU on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting Its Victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA; 4) to analyse the way in which the participating countries are transposing into their national legislation the obligations imposed under the above cited EU Directive; 5) to develop training and awareness raising material specifically addressed to target groups and beneficiaries.The study lasted from 16 November 2012 to 15 November 2015 (36 months) Three countries were involved in the study: Belgium (project partner) Italy (project partner) and Spain (project coordinator) The institutions involved were: Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) International Centre for Reproductive Health Universiteit Gent (Ghent, Belgium) and Le Onde Onlus (Palermo, Italy) The study has been financed by the Prevention of and Fight against Crime programme (DG Home Affairs) of the European Commission.