“The Roma community throughout the years of Ukraine’s independence belongs to one of the most vulnerable categories of the population. Today, Roma, including girls and women, continue to undergo discrimination and violation of rights at different levels: from obtaining medical services to the right to education and employment.”, – WRITE: www.pravda.com.ua
As the Roma Strategy is being implemented now On July 28, 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the “Strategy for Promoting the Rights and Opportunities of Persons belonging to the Roma National Minority, in Ukrainian society for the period up to 2030.” This document contains key changes for the Roma community – counteracting discrimination, access to quality education, access to health care services, improving quality of life, issues of employment of Roma, their social protection, as well as support and development of Roma culture, language, and art.
Ukraine, as part of the European Community, professes equality and support for different population groups. Although often in practice, being a woman of Roma origin in Ukraine means to suffer double or even triple discrimination. In cases of intersection discrimination, during which a person undergoes discrimination on several grounds, such as ethnicity and the presence of disability, social status or other vulnerability, vulnerability increases even more. These harassment and restrictions originate from birth and accompany in various fields: from medicine to education, from employment to self -realization opportunities.
Advertising:
Improving the lives of Roma women in Ukraine requires a comprehensive approach that covers various aspects of social, economic and cultural inclusion.
Education is a base for the future Often Roma women do not have equal access to learning because of poverty, discrimination or cultural restrictions. The results of the study “identity, gender aspects and traditions”, which conducted the NGO “Voice of Romney” with the research group of the Vox Populi agency, show that not only the financial situation of the individual but also the socio -cultural models that are stored in the Roma community is largely influenced by access to education. Only 14% of Roma and rum have higher, secondary or complete secondary education.
Therefore, they become hostages to a parent family or partner who deprive them of the right to choose the profession and opportunities.
Without receiving the proper level of education, Roma women remain disenfranchised about the opportunity to earn in the future. From this there is another problem – domestic violence. Roma women who suffer from home and psychological violence have nowhere to get away from the abuser. They do not have the money for a medical examination and the road to the shelters. Due to the lack of education, women and girls do not even know about trust or shelter for the victims and are not informed about their own rights and opportunities to contact law enforcement.
In fact, there are hotlines of support and assistance that the victims can turn. “Romney Voice” works for the fair and safe future women. In our safe women’s spaces, women can get professional psychological and legal advice for free and have been trained. Moms are able to come with their children: they provide interesting activities, development classes and training courses.
It is extremely important today to develop programs that would support the training of Roma children and girls, as well as promote the involvement of Roma women in vocational education and trainings.
Fighting discrimination and stereotypes Roma women often face double discrimination because of their ethnicity and gender. Currently, prejudices and negative stereotypes against Roma are still deeply rooted in Ukrainian society.
The monitoring of the Secretariat of the Ombudsman of Ukraine in 2024 shows that during the full -scale war of Russia against Ukraine, Roma women were in an even more difficult situation. Many of them had to take full responsibility for the life of their family, as men went to the front, remained in the occupation or area of active fighting, while women with their children were looking for salvation in a safer territory of Ukraine or beyond.
The fight against racism and sexism should be conducted at all levels of society – through educational programs, public campaigns and political initiatives. It is necessary to develop a culture of inclusiveness, which allows to change the attitude towards Roma women.
Give an opportunity to make a living Roma women and girls want to be financially and informative, want to learn and use their skills in practice. On the other hand, womanhood often faces humiliation at the desire to study, with stereotyping in different social spheres. This becomes an obstacle for further motivation. Sometimes they are even forced to hide their nationality when they are employed, fearing that they will be refused.
This can help with microcredit programs for Roma women and training in financial literacy, scholarships for study, support of entrepreneurship among women, the development of crafts and small businesses. In the unification of Roma women, Voice Romney works, where Roma women study for wigners, makeup artists, conditioners, manicure craftsmen, get other professions that will help them become financially stable. In the future, they are given starting sets for work, they can win a business grant and open their own business. This allows them to have constant earnings and the ability to provide the family independently.
Motherhood and concern for health Roma women are a particularly vulnerable group among internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially during pregnancies and because of the need to take care of children. Since the beginning of a full -scale invasion, about 100,000 left Ukraine, and about the same number of IDPs. Such data are provided in the office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine. However, the real number of internally displaced Roma can be much higher, as some people are afraid of consequences such as confiscation of property by police or other bodies. Roma forced displaced persons, like many other Ukrainians, lost their documents, left front -line areas or hostilities quickly, so trying to access humanitarian aid, sometimes cannot get it. It is important to solve this problem, taking into account all the difficulties that arise from a full -scale invasion.
The recognition of these urgent needs has already been taken as a step – thanks to the work of Roma activists and activists in cooperation with public organizations, state Yu and international partners. Among other things, we need to give Roma women a platform to express their thoughts and needs for socio-political issues. This means supporting the participation of Roma women in public organizations, politics and leadership roles, the creation of organizations and public initiatives that would support Roma women’s rights and have been actively working on their development.
These measures should be aimed at the integration of Roma women into all spheres of public life, to ensure equal opportunities and to overcome existing barriers. The Roma community, along with other ethnic groups, should be included in Ukraine’s rebuilding. Ensuring equal rights and opportunities for all for a fair and inclusive restoration of the state is a key requirement for entry in the EU.
Angelika Belova, President of NGO “Romney Voice”
A column is a material that reflects the author’s point of view. The text of the column does not claim the objectivity and comprehensive coverage of the topic that rises in it. The editorial board of “Ukrainian Truth” is not responsible for the accuracy and interpretation of the information provided and plays only the role of the carrier. The point of view of the UP editorial board may not coincide with the point of view of the author of the column.