EWL adopts position paper on Roma and Traveller Women
[Brussels, 09 January 2013] The European Women’s Lobby is pleased to share with you our newly adopted Position Paper that focuses on the experience of Romani and Traveller women who are often exposed to multiple and intersectional discrimination on grounds of gender and ethnic origin and have limited access to employment, education, health, social services and decision-making.
Despite the adoption of a European Parliament Report in 2006 on the situation of Roma Women and “10 Common Basic Principles on Roma Inclusion” by the Council of the European Union in which one of the principles relates to gender awareness, the vulnerable situation of Romani and Traveller women has, in practice, remained unaddressed by European and national policy-makers. The EWL Position Paper aims in this context to highlight recommendations for European and national decision-makers in order for public policies, especially National Roma Integration Strategies, related to both Romani people and to gender equality in general, to fully address women’s rights and needs.
We encourage all stakeholders to use this position paper in their work and hope it will contribute to improve the situation and fight against the discrimination faced by Roma and Traveller women across Europe.
For more information about our work on this issue, please contact: Amandine Bach, bach@womenlobby.org.
