Activities of Francis ZAMMIT DIMECH related to 2017/2275(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT Towards an EU external strategy against early and forced marriages – next steps PDF (529 KB) DOC (81 KB)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas various international charters and laws prohibit the marriage of minors; whereas early and forced marriage has a verydrastic negative impact on the personal development of the individuals concerned and on the children resulting from the marriage; and so on the whole society as such;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas no marriage shall be legally entered into without the full and free consent of both parties, and by any person under a minimum age for marriage;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, to date, more than 700 million girls have married before the age of 18, of whom 250 million were married before the age of 15; whereas around 156 million boys have married before the age 18, of whom 25 million were married before the age of 15; whereas early and forced marriages are more frequent in poor, under-developed regions; whereas the number of early and forced marriages is increasing as the global population grows, according to a recent UNICEF report which estimates that in 2050 around 1.2 billion girls will have married before the age of 18;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child points out the importance of measures that encourage regular attendance at schools by controlling and seeking to reduce the drop-out rates, as early and forced marriages very often deprive the persons concerned ofrom the possibility to continue their studies; whereas education is an effective way of preventing early and forced marriage, allowing girls to free themselves from any form of control adversely affecting their rights;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas child marriages are a violation of the rights of the child and a clear form of violence against girls and boys, and whereas, as such, they must be condemned; whereas early and forced marriages are often associated with domestic violence and sexual abuse;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the number of early and forced marriages increases significantly in situations of armed conflict and humanitarian disaster, which leave little scope for medical and psychological care; whereas during the recent migration crises, many parents, seeking to protect their daughterschildren from sexual aggression, chose to have them marry before the age of 18;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on legislators, both in the EU and in third countries, to set the minimum age for marriage at 18 years and to provide themselves with the administrative, legal and financial means to be able to comply with this requirement while fully taking into account the legal national measures covering marriages at the age of 16 requiring the consent of their parents and public authorities;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes it is important to tackle the multiple causes of early and forced marriage, including age-old traditions having little regard for gender equality and women’s affairs, the lack of educational opportunities and, very often, the endemic poverty in the communities concerned; believes that the special attention must be paid to children from disadvantaged communities;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recognises that a statutory ban on early and forced marriage by itself would not guarantee an end to this practice; and that implementation of such measures is thus crucial;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points out that in order to comprehensively tackle early and forced marriage, the European Union, as a major actor in global development, must play a leading role; calls on the EU and the Member States to work with law enforcement authorities and judicial systems in third countries, and to provide training and technical assistance to help with the adoption and enforcement of the legislation prohibiting early and forced marriages;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls, therefore, on all Member States to be consistent and to include a ban on early and forced marriage in their legislation and to enforce penal law;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recommends that Member States align their legislation on the treatment of immigrants who married before the age of 18all third country nationals present in the EU who married before the age of 18, while fully taking into account the marriages at the age of 16 resulting from the legal national measures requiring the consent of their parents and public authorities, and not recognise early and forced marriages, while extending humanitarian treatment to those who were forced to get married before the age of 18; calls for special procedures to be put in place in refugees and asylum seeker reception centres;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 – point c
Paragraph 8 – point c
c. the resources needed to achieve this objective are mobilised, taking care to open this cooperation to all institutional actors as well as non-governmental organisations with undoubted expertisecivil society in the area of tackling early and forced marriage;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 – point d
Paragraph 8 – point d
d. the level of public development aid is made dependent on the recipient country’s commitment to complying with the requirements on human rights, including in the fight against early and forced marriage;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 – point e
Paragraph 8 – point e
e. the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) programme is implemented in triangular cooperation involving these organisations, the European Union and the developing countries in combating early and forced marriage, prioritising programmes and methods likely to go beyond so-called cultural, religious or tribal practices that, in reality, constitute the worst violations of the rights of children and the dignity of girls and boys;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 – point f
Paragraph 8 – point f
f. the implementation of these programmes builds on the relevant conventions and texts, as well as the specific goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of 25 September 2015 in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3 (‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’), Goal 4 (‘Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning’) and Goal 5 (‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’), including access to all sexual and reproductive health services, in particular safe abortion for girlrights;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 8 – point f a (new)
fa. the harmonised monitoring of cases of child marriages in the world enhancing the collection of gender disaggregated date, in order to be able to better assess the magnitude of the problem;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Considers that women/girl’s empowerment through education, social support and economic opportunities is crucial tool to fight against these practices; considers that in a world where parents might see marriage as the best way to provide their children with a future, early and forced marriages can be significantly lowered through the empowerment of women;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the European Union to ensure that training is provided to law enforcement agencies so that they are better able to uphold the rights of girls and boys exposed to forced and early marriage, domestic violence, the risk of rape and any other practice which undermines human dignity;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Welcomes the global, multi-year Spotlight Initiative launched by the EU and the United Nations, aimed at ending all forms of violence against women and girls, as it brings focused attention to this issue, placing it at the centre of efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and calls for its effective implementation;