Together with the young people, we watched the film produced by the project "Honour related abuses in a social and legal aspect" and organized debate teams FOR and AGAINST early marriages.
The two events were held completely independently of each other as their goal was to educate young people about issues such as child marriage, access to women's counseling for young girls, the right to safe sex and protection from violence - domestic or in the name of honor.
It turned out that among the girls and young men we met, the practice of buying brides and checking their virginity no longer exists. However, they shared that they had heard of the custom and it still exists in their communities or in communities close to them.
During the debates, it was a particular challenge for the teams that had to defend the tradition of early marriage. However, they put forward arguments such as the protection of values that are part of Roma folk psychology, as well as purely economic reasons, if young girls are from poor families and marry into wealthy ones that can provide them with a better future and still allow them to complete their education.
The point of view of the young boys in these debates was also interesting. They also reject the idea of their parents determining the chosen one of their life. Some of them even tried to put themselves in the place of the fathers of the girls who sell their daughters.
The childen agreed that early marriage is something they are vehemently opposed to, and would defend not only their right to choose, but that of a friend if it is needed. Together, we also discussed methods to prevent such type of crimes against girls, namely reporting to teachers and the police, as often the families themselves are involved in the acts.
The events were part of a series of meetings within the framework of the GEAR project – Gender Equality and Antidiscrimination of Roma. Its main goal is the training of practitioners and young people of Roma origin on the topics of gender equality. The first European youth online radio is about to be created thanks to the project. There children from Bulgaria, Romania, Italy and Belgium can be agents of change and create their own space where they can discuss the topics that concern them.