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Marriage in the Context of Intra- and Transnational Roma Migration: Gender Issues and Challenges

Globally, marriage migration, regardless of motives, appears to be predominately female. Several studies have revealed that marriage migration invokes numerous anxieties, strategies and ambitions and has been seen as problematic and controversial (see Wray 2011). Past research has shown that migration can be an emancipatory experience and celebrated as a form of agency (Pessar & Mahler 2003 ; Hirsch 1999) as women’s marriage migration may be the most efficient and socially accepted means available to disadvantaged women to achieve a measure of social and economic mobility (Del Rosario 1994 ; Fan & Li 2002 ; Fan & Huang 1998). Conversely, marriage migration may be an experience of disempowerment (Hirsch 1999) because in-marrying wives in their new environments are often unfamiliar with local customs, family traditions and frequently experience language barriers. One of the main aims of this paper is to bring a gender-sensitive perspective to bear on aspects of Roma marriage and migration in intra- and transnational migration focussing on examples from Croatia. For clarification purposes, this paper draws distinctions between arranged marriages, forced marriages (that can be seen as a form of human trafficking) and sham marriages. In this grey zone with fluid boundaries, there is the additional dilemma of early child marriages and the implications of these arrangements in relation to violation of girls’ basic rights for freedom, growth, education and health. Correspondingly, this paper will consider state legislation with regard to these issues as well as immigration procedures in the Republic of Croatia. Some of the identified problems and challenges that women without residency or citizenship face will be discussed. This work draws on previous studies and reports for a demographic profile and a description of migration and marital patterns among Roma populations in Croatia. It features a case study elaborating the extent and motives for marriage migration as well as the determinants and social function of brideprice. More specifically, it attempts to examine the multiplicity of factors shaping Roma women’s experience as migrants i.e., how gender and other social categories (race, ethnicity, class, age, religion, etc.) intersect and whether migration has been an emancipatory or disempowering experience for Roma women. Further, this paper shows that female Roma migration cannot be understood without considering i) the local community’s context (degree of social inclusion – e.g., participation in educational economic, political spheres ; level of infrastructure ; patriarchy, gender roles and relations ; etc.) and ii) wider structural forces: socio-economic instability, racism, discrimination, etc. This work is an attempt to narrow the gap in the literature on contemporary lived experience of marriage in context of migration among Roma groups. Clearly, there is a need for further empirical studies on the intersection of marriage and migration from both a gender-sensitive and comparative intra-European perspective.

marital patterns; migration; Roma. Croatia; gender-sensitive analysis

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