Last Friday two women that have got married at Haren Prison in Brussels. Mrs D. say “yes” to Mrs D.S. and vice versa. It was the first time that a marriage has taken place at Haren Gaol since it opened in September 2022.
The two women put in a request to get married in March 2024, but had to wait more than a year for their big day. As one of the two women is still doing time at Haren, the wedding ceremony didn’t take place in the elegance of Brussels Town Hall, but at the prison.
Alderman Clémentine Buggenhout (Francophone liberal) told the Francophone daily ‘La Capitale’ that “As one of them is still incarcerated the preparations were made in close cooperation between the prison and the City Registrar’s Department”. It was Ms Buggenhout that officiated at the wedding that was attended by the couple’s family and friends and prison staff.
Alderman Buggenhout told the paper that “This wedding shows respect for fundamental human rights that apply to everyone, people that are imprisoned included. It shows that institutions are able to take into account complex personal situations within a strict legal framework”.