SPAIN: Gypsies Demand Recognition (Reformatted)

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http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/wnheadlines/974498769/index_html

 Headline: SPAIN: Gypsies Demand Recognition
 of Marriage Rites

Posted by WomensNet on Friday November 17, @02:06PM

MADRID, Nov 13 (IPS) - Organisations of gypsies or Roma in Spain are
demanding that their traditional marriage ceremonies be granted the same
official recognition enjoyed by the religious rites of Jews, Muslims,
Catholics and Protestants.

 SPAIN: Gypsies Demand Recognition of Marriage Rites

 Originally posted in IGC Member Conference:

Topic 325 RIGHTS-SPAIN: Gypsies Demand Recogn newsdesk The Inter Press
Service in English 7:04 PM Nov 13, 2000

Copyright 2000 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks. *** 13-Nov-0* ***

Title: RIGHTS-SPAIN: Gypsies Demand Recognition of Marriage
Rites By Tito Drago

MADRID, Nov 13 (IPS) - Organisations of gypsies or Roma in Spain are
demanding that their traditional marriage ceremonies be granted the same
official recognition enjoyed by the religious rites of Jews, Muslims,
Catholics and Protestants.

''The marriage rites of gypsies reached Europe when this continent was
only just taking shape as a society,'' Manuel Mart¡nez Ram¡rez,
president of Gypsy Presence, a multi-ethnic non- governmental
organisation that has been defending the interests and rights of the
Roma since its founding in 1972, told IPS.

The regional parliament of Arag¢n -- one of Spain's 17 autonomous
communities -- approved a bill last week introduced by the Spanish
Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) which, if adopted by Spain's national
parliament, will mean the register office will legally recognise
marriages conducted according to age-old Roma traditions.

Another Roma association, Kamira, wants the rites approved in their most
traditional form, in which a ''match-maker'' (an older woman) breaks the
hymen of the bride with a handkerchief and exhibits it before an
assembly of men as proof of her virginity.

A Kamira spokesman said if that part of the rites was eliminated, ''it
would put an end to the gypsy people.''

Mart¡nez Ram¡rez, however, said the ''match-maker'' rite was not
obligatory. ''It can only be practiced by those who specifically accept
it,'' because ''no religion, culture or rite can take precedence over a
citizen's right over their own body.''

But he also pointed out that traditional gypsy weddings began to be held
in Spain a full 575 years ago.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
commended the Spanish government in March for its efforts to improve the
situation of gypsies in the country, who numbered around 650,000 of a
total population of 40 million.

But while the UN committee said the Spanish government ''was treating
that segment of the population in a very favourable manner,'' it added
that ''a high percentage of the members of the gypsy community had been
affected by unfavourable social conditions in comparison to the rest of
the Spanish population.''

An estimated 90 percent of Roma in Spain are married in traditional
gypsy ceremonies.

The Aragon regional parliament's initiative is a test of the sensitivity
of those who fight for their rights, said Mart¡nez Ram¡rez, who pointed
out that when the constitution was drafted, only the Andalucista Party
(in the southern region of Andaluc¡a) met with delegates of Gypsy
Presence, while the Spanish parliament never even discussed the question
of gypsy marriages.

Law professor Fernando Mari¤o, the president of the Spanish Pro Human
Rights Association, told IPS that the important thing was to foster the
establishment of officially recognised links between people who want to
live together, marry, and form a family.

''The form is only a secondary issue,'' said Mari¤o, a professor of
international law at the Carlos III University. ''What must be
guaranteed is the broadest freedom of form, including the gypsies' right
to marry according to their age-old traditions.''

Mari¤o, however, objected to the ''match-maker'' rite.

All legislation must take into account public order, ''which establishes
equality between women and men, and rejects any degrading treatment.
And that aspect of the rite is humiliating for women,'' said Mari¤o.
(END/IPS/tra-so/td/ag/sw/00) Origin: Montevideo/RIGHTS-SPAIN/
            ----


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Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx
PhD Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222




--

Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx
PhD Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222



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