engleski

Child marriages in Roma community in Croatia

The poster provides an overview of the qualitative research on the occurrence of child marriages conducted in 2019 in the Roma community in Croatia. Since child marriages are phenomenon which grossly violates children's rights of girls and boys, jeopardizes their well-being and prevents them from realizing their full potential, but also due to the lack of research that would allow a deeper understanding of this practice, the general goal of this research was to gain insight into personal experience of adult Roma women associated with their marriage before the age of eighteen. The study involved seven adult Roma women aged 24 to 41 living in Međimurje County in North Croatia. Data were collected by semi-structured interview method and analyzed by thematic analysis. The results are presented in four thematic areas: (1) reasons and circumstances of getting marriade as a minor, (2) schooling experience, (3) experience and impressions of married life and (4) experience of respondents with their own daughters. The results of the research indicate the intertwining and intricate relationship between various factors that lead to entering into a marital union in a minor age, from the level of the girls themselves to the level of norms in the Roma community. Therefore, the research gets its value from the aspect of guidelines for planning specific interventions as well as potential topics for further research in Croatia, primarily in terms of prevalence and characteristics of the phenomenon itself, where it is important to take into account the heterogeneity of the Roma community. Consequently, the public policy framework is discussed, and activities aimed at preventing the practice of child marriage in the education system are proposed as well as activities in the community and with the community aimed at supporting young people, but also at changing norms that support this practice.

child marriages ; Roma, circumstances of entering into marriage ; experience of married life ; prevention

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