Marital Captivity: Bridging the gap between religion and law (MARICAP)

In the Netherlands people can marry in different ways; either civilly, religiously, or in both ways. Dissolving a civil marriage is usually not too difficult to achieve. Obtaining a religious divorce, on the other hand, can be a real challenge, especially for women of migrant or refugee background. A civil divorce pronounced by a Dutch court will not end a religious marriage; or when there is no civil marriage and a couple only entered a religious marriage – how and where can one get a religious divorce or annulment? The situation in which a couple is legally and/or physically separated yet religiously still married, can be denoted as being in a state of ‘marital captivity’.