Romani feminism
Movement for Romani women's rights
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Romani feminism, or Gypsy feminism, is a form of feminism that promotes gender equality for Romani women while making these processes compatible with the preservation of the culture and values of the Romani people.[1][2] It is closely related to the Romani women's movement.[3]
Romani feminism is characterized by the fight to overcome prejudices and the distinction both towards Roma society and towards women, in addition to the stigma associated with poverty.[1][4][clarification needed]
History
Throughout history, the Romani ethnic group has been despised and persecuted by different societies. Many groups still preserve a characteristic culture, with its own language, traditions or customs, where family and solidarity among its members is of great importance.[1][needs copy edit]
In the 1920s and 1930s there was early Romani political activism in central Europe; this included the proposal of a female-only branch of the nascent General Union of Roma in Romania to educate and empower Romani women.[5] The first Panhellenic Association of Roma People was founded by two women in 1939.[5][6]: 17
There were organizations formed to organize for Roma rights since at least the 1960s,[7] but the movement was popularized[clarification needed] in the 1990s following the end of the Cold War.[5][7][8] In the same decade, a number of Romani women led national campaigns against gender-based oppression in relation to Roma communities.[9] One of the first explicitly Roma women’s organizations, the Gypsy Mother Association, was established in Hungary in 1991 by Ilona Zambo.[5] In the United Kingdom, Sylvia Dunn formed the National Association of Gypsy Women in 1994.[5]
The late 1990s saw the formation and involvement of several non-governmental organizations.[7] For example, the Open Society Institute (OSI) held its first International Conference of Romani Women in 1998, leading to the creation of the Joint Romani Women’s Initiative,[9][6]: 18 and provided funding for the European Roma Rights Centre, which opened in 1996.[7][8] OSI also supported the Association of Romani Women in Romania's formation of the International Conference for Roma Women in December 1999.[6]: 18
At the Primer Congreso Gitano de la Unión Europea (First Gypsy Congress of the European Union) in 1994, a group of 29 Romani women issued the Manifesto of Roma/Gypsy Women; as a result, the Council of Europe organized a hearing for Romani women's rights in 1995.[5][3]: 218–219
In 2002, the International Romani Women’s Network was launched by Romani women activists from 18 countries,[10][6]: 18 [3]: 221 becoming the first registered international organization to represent women from all Romani groups in Europe.[10][clarification needed]
A Roma feminist (Soraya Post) was elected to the European Parliament for the first time in 2014.[6]: 22
In Spain
The Gitanas movement of Spanish Romani women emerged in 1990,[5][11] the same year the first Romani feminist women's association in Europe was formed, the Asociación de Mujeres Gitanas Romí in Granada.[12][3]: 211 Romí organized the first seminar on the situation of Gitana women in Spain in June 1990.[3]: 211 Since then, hundreds of organizations and collectives have been created throughout the country.[1][3]: 222 The movement in part inspired feminist Romani activism in central and eastern Europe.[3]: 29
According to Roma activist and anthropologist Anna Mirga-Kruszelnicka, "...the uniqueness of ‘Gitano feminism’ lies in its openness to men: it is framed as a joint struggle for the improvement and development of the Romani communities."[3]: 216
Theory
The concept of intersectionality is key to Romani feminist discourse.[13][14][15][6]: 1 Romani professor Alexandra Oprea says that "Feminist and antiracist politics in Europe are still by and large two separate struggles, and Romani feminists wind up in a separate, isolated sphere fighting on their own."[16] In addition to gender and ethnicity, class is frequently brought up in discussions of Romani women's oppression,[8][9][17] as they are more likely to be in conditions of poverty. These issues are exacerbated by gender; Romani women have worse outcomes in employment, health, and education compared to Romani men.[5][9]
Divergence from traditional feminism
Romani feminism incorporates critiques by Black and Third World feminists of concepts such as "universal sisterhood".[citation needed] Many Romani feminists assert white feminists often negate the autonomy of Romani women by acting as if they are saving them from a "barbaric" or "backward" culture.[citation needed]
Goals and challenges
Among the aspects most defended by this group are access to housing, education and the visibility of women, although there are many others, such as the normalization of sexual diversity.[1] At the Roma Women's Forum in 2003, female Roma activists made a number of proposals, including the desegregation of education, provision of employment and economic opportunities to Roma women and youth, and ending coercive government sterilization programs.[18]
One of the biggest challenges for the Roma community is to maintain the Roma tradition and identity while respecting the decision and freedom of women. This feminist trend seeks equality by claiming the right to be different.[19][clarification needed]
Poverty, employment and education
According to a survey of 11 EU member states by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 42% of Roma live in "severe housing deprivation" and 87% of Roma households earn an amount below the national at-risk-of-poverty line (compared to 12% and 46% of non-Roma respectively).[9] The survey also showed that fewer Romani women than men could read or write (77 % versus 85%), had been to school (81% vs 86%), or were employed (21% vs 35%).[9] This causes Roma women to be financially dependent on men.[20] However, persistent poverty and unemployment among men has led to a decrease in their relative authority within households, which in turn has exacerbated issues of domestic abuse.[21][needs update]
Forced sterilization
Treatment within Roma communities
The treatment or oppression of women within Roma society is debated among Romani activists.[22] Oprea suggests that during times of racial oppression, Romani women are encouraged to defend harmful practices in order to avoid legitimizing racist anti-Roma attitudes.[16][3]: 254 Furthermore, some Romani activists perceive the Romani women's movement as fracturing, diluting, or betraying the goals of the Romani rights movement.[3]: 57 [3]: 217 Roma organizations are still primarily led by men.[17]
Domestic violence against women in Romani society is viewed by some[who?] as a Romani feminist issue.[16][3]
