"Safa" came from Iraq, alone with the children.
When her husband arrived, he began to control and abuse her.
"Fatima" came to Sweden to marry an Iraqi man who grew up here.
Soon she began to experience marriage as a prison.
- He thought something completely different about me.
He thought that because this girl is from Iraq, she should listen to me all the time.
She should not say no to anything, says "Fatima".
Both have divorced their husbands according to Swedish law.
But the religious marriage, imams have refused to dissolve - because the men refused.
In April this year, "Safa" managed to get through his religious divorce, after the man finally gave his consent.
For many Muslims, the religious divorce is necessary to continue their lives.
Women are not considered divorced unless the imam dissolves Islamic marriage.
On the man's terms
Assignment review has talked to ten women in similar situations.
According to Swedish authorities, the women are divorced, but they are stuck in their Islamic marriages because imams in Sweden have refused to divorce according to Islamic law, what is called sharia.
According to sharia, the man has an unconditional right to file for divorce.
If the woman wants, but the man is against, she can be forced to remain in the religious marriage, or give up the bridal gift that in Islam is written into the marriage contract as a financial security.
- I would like to say that this problem exists in all marriages where the woman requests a divorce and the man does not want to admit it or consent to it, says lawyer Ada Alak, whose clients in several cases are women who are stuck in religious marriages.
The government wants to tighten the requirements
Minister for Migration Anders Ygeman (S) says that he is saddened that women have been forced into relationships for several years against their will.
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Anders Ygeman: "You can not have a marriage without also being able to divorce".
Photo: SVT
On Tuesday, after Assignment review interview with Anders Ygeman, the government presented proposals for new legislation to strengthen the so-called democracy requirement that needs to be met for religious communities to receive state subsidies.