The first-ever report specifically analyzing the situation of Sinti and Roma women in Germany has found that women of this minority group face intersectional discrimination, cumulating the effects of both gender and ethnic or racial discrimination. According to the report's conclusions, Sinti and Roma women in Germany are clearly disadvantaged in a number of key areas such as education, employment, health care, and participation in public and political life, and have not enjoyed the progress that other German women have achieved in recent years. Foreign Romani women are particularly disadvantaged.
This "shadow" report was jointly submitted to the UN gender anti-discrimination body CEDAW by the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) and OSI's European Union Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP). The report, considered today in the framework of a regular review of Germany's record in the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, calls on the German government to stop ignoring these major problems; to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation; and to fulfil its long overdue obligations under European and international law.
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Roma Rights
A New Roma-led Vision of Power
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The new, independent, Roma Foundation for Europe is backed by a €100 million pledge that builds on Open Society’s over 30 years of support for Roma causes.
Roma Rights
Q&A: A Step Toward Justice for Roma Women
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In November, the Slovak Republic formally apologized to Roma women for a program of forced sterilizations that stretched out for decades. How a Slovak human rights group helped hold the government accountable.
The Time Is Now
Where Roma Rights and Environmental Justice Meet
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Leaders in the EU are confronted with a dual obligation—to restore healthy environments for Roma, and to do so with the full participation of Roma communities themselves.