PRÁTICA DE CASAMENTOS COLECTIVOS COMO SALVAGUARDA DOS DIREITOS DA MULHER.

The realization of collective weddings, in Maputo City, is the result of a social intervention project by the Municipal Council with the aim of supporting couples who wish to enter into marriage, but do not do so due to lack of financial resources, cultural and social issues linked to stigmatization, excessive bureaucracy, lack of civil registration bodies necessary for the legalization of marriages close to communities and lack of knowledge of the law. The project follows on from reports about women who, due to the lack of legalization of their marital relations, are raped and forced to dispose of the couple's assets in cases of separation or death from their husband. Partially derived from a recent Master's dissertation, literature review and empirical research that we have been carrying out since 2010 on the subject, in this article we describe the process of collective marriages and analyze its meaning for the women covered. In light of the theoretical assumptions of the sociology of freedom, the article reveals that, in a patriarchal context where women's rights are disrespected, the project of collective marriages, by supporting the process of officializing the marital relations of couples living in a de facto union, contributes to the satisfaction of women from families with few resources, expands their social capital, their security at home and gives greater visibility to the need for public interventions aimed at safeguarding the rights of women and their social prestige both in the family and in society in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]