Romani women are being discriminated in wider society for being members of the Romani ethnic group, and in the Romani community for being women. This double discrimination has been additionally made difficult by Romani women being exposed to social exclusion seen through a very low access to education, employment and health care, which makes them especially vulnerable to various forms of gender-based violence. It is very important to put domestic violence as a topic in Romani communities, which are often excluded from prevention, protection and rehabilitation programmes. Romani women experiencing domestic violence are faced with a number of difficulties, due to poverty, social exclusion, and lack of social services where they live. Romani women, who report their husbands or partners, but continue sharing household with them, become faced with even harder violence. Not negligible: As a result of all these factors, there is still a strong feeling of shame and stigmatisation of victims, but also distrust towards mechanisms of protection, discouraging them to seek any assistance. Full support service must be provided and made widely available for full fight against gender-based violence, and especially against inter-sectional discrimination. This includes special measures of support that should be created and financially supported by the state and local institutions.

We invite you to read our policy brief.