Roma women activists are challenging European governments over what they consider as an international health crisis for Roma women.1 The President of the newly established International Roma Women’s Network (IRWN), Ms. Soraya Post, has stated that the report Breaking the Barriers confirms what Roma women have known for years: “Roma women can still expect to die almost twenty years earlier than non-Roma women, and sick Roma are turned away from clinics and hospitals. From East to West, the story is the same. Our people are denied access to health care.”2 Post draws special attention to reports that Roma women are still being subject to forced sterilization across Europe.
Sterilization is the primary example of the abuse that lies at the heart of the Roma health crisis. The issue is treated with caution by intergovernmental bodies, which are calling for reports and conferences to focus on sterilization over the next year. With many eastern European countries looking to gain EU status in 2004, a growing number of Roma advocates are quickly raising awareness to the issue of sterilization.
Breaking the Barriers documents 230 in-depth interviews that were conducted with Roma women in 40 settlements in eastern Slovakia. The interviews uncover approximately 110 cases were women were forcibly sterilized in hospitals by doctors and nurses.3
“I was in terrible pain, but I was not given any pills, any injection. When I was falling asleep, a nurse came and took my hands in hers and with it she signed something. I do not know what it was.” Agata, 28, from Svinia.4
With organizations like the International Roma Women’s Rights Network (IRWN), Roma women are finding more resources to understand the issue at hand and to seek compensation. A recent European Council meeting held in September was the first of its kind to focus strictly on Roma women and their health concerns.
The principle message of the Council meeting was that Roma women must begin to take action and empower their communities to make change happen. Equally important is the responsibility of European governments to publicly acknowledge the human rights violations, conduct investigations, prosecute those responsible, and enforce existing international laws to protect Roma women from forced sterilization.5
The IRWN and the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC), along with other women’s rights organizations, are gaining momentum by shining light on the issue of forced sterilization, bringing it to the forefront of human rights organizations such as the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR).
The European Council is scheduled to host another conference as a follow-up to September’s forum before the end of 2003. The meeting will summarize the measures that will be taken over the course of a year’s period to improve health conditions for Roma women.
Chevenee Reavis is the European Regional Editor at Cultural Survival.
1. “Roma: Roma Women Activists Challenge European Governments Over Health Crisis.” The Advocacy Project
11 Sept. 2003
2. Post, Soraya. “Statement of Soraya Post, President of the International Roma Women’s Network to the Conference on Roma Women and Access to Public Healthcare.” The Advocacy Project 11 Sept. 2003
3. Politov, Atanas. “RE: Roma Women’s Network Launched.” Emailed to undisclosed-recipients.
25 Mar. 2003
4. “Body and Soul: Forced Sterilization and Other Assaults on Roma Reproductive Freedom in Slovakia.” The Center for Reproductive Rights Jan. 2003
5. “Body and Soul: Forced Sterilization and Other Assaults on Roma Reproductive Freedom in Slovakia.” The Center for Reproductive Rights Jan. 2003
