Address by Maud de Boer-Buquicchio,
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe,
International Annual Conference of Roma Women,
Athens, Greece, 11 January 2010

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Ladies and Gentleman,
Dear friends,

I would like to start by saying how delighted I would have been to join you in Athens at the second international meeting of Roma women. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my trip due to medical reasons. I have therefore asked my colleague Maria Ochoa to lend me her voice to convey you my message.

The Council of Europe, and myself personally, are following closely Roma women’s fight for emancipation and their efforts to raise their visibility in Europe.

You, the European Roma women, are the quiet force of change of the social condition of Roma women and of Roma communities as a whole.

I know that many of you experienced or still experience segregation and that some of you as children witnessed anti-Roma discrimination and violence. Many of you have done your schooling in segregated schools and some of you have not been able to finish your studies because you got married and had a family at an early age. I am sure that those of you – and you are quite numerous here today - who have gained further education have had to make enormous efforts to have that opportunity. Your lives are a lesson in perseverance.

I am also aware of the tragic and humiliating fate of Roma women who have been forcibly sterilised. This is a horrendous violation of human rights, a devastating attack on human dignity, depriving women of the capacity to bring children into this world and nurture them. You have had the courage to fight to redress this human rights violation. I am proud of you for defending what I consider most sacred in a woman’s life

Each of you has a personal story to add to the battle for equality and social justice of the Roma in Europe.

This is a battle which is far from being won, but there is some ground for optimism, and the credit for this should also go to you.

The Roma women’s movement is gathering momentum and governments have started to listen to your voices.

Sweden was amongst the first to do so and the presence of the Swedish Minister for Integration and Gender Equality is a clear sign of support for your work.

The meeting in Stockholm launched the proposal to make this international gathering an annual event under the auspices of a member State and I have been working on this with determination.

I am therefore very pleased that Greece offered hosting the second meeting. This is fully in line with the important role which this part of Europe has played in shaping the history, culture and language of the Roma. Greece was in fact the place where Roma settled longest before moving northwards.

And turning to the future I also have the pleasure to announce to you that Finland and Spain will host the next annual meetings of the Roma women.

Roma women are taking full advantage of the new possibilities opening up to them and are assuming their share of responsibilities. You are lobbying hard, you are setting your own agenda, and you are using all available institutional ways to make your voices heard.

In the Council of Europe we strongly encourage your involvement in international and national politics. We support your campaigns against evictions, forced sterilizations, violation of your children’s rights to quality education, your fight against antigypsyism.

Supporting the Roma women’s movement lies at the heart of the Council of Europe’s intersectoral action: promoting gender equality, protecting the human rights of minorities and vulnerable groups, defending the human rights of children and fighting against racism.

The Council of Europe considers as one of its priorities the equal access of all European citizens to basic human rights, including social rights.

Since the last meeting in Stockholm several tragic events in Europe have shown that anti-Gypsyism has reached a dangerous peak.
It is no longer limited to marginalisation – it has become hateful, aggressive, violent and organised. I am very much concerned by a certain stagnation and sometimes deterioration of the situation of Roma, Gypsies and Travellers both in Central and Eastern Europe and in Western Europe, which is not only related to bad economic conditions. We must use all available political, social and legal means to reverse this dramatic trend. One of the possibilities is the protection offered by the European Convention and the European Court of Human Rights.

This brings me to a very interesting finding which I would like to share with you. Already in 1950, the European Convention on Human Rights included a prohibition of discrimination based on gender in relation to the rights protected by the Convention. When looking for cases in which the Court found discrimination based on gender
I found mostly cases submitted by men. Women rarely avail themselves of this possibility and that is perhaps precisely the problem. However, if we go through the most famous cases of violation of human rights concerning Roma we will see that the applications were introduced by Roma women:

Mrs Sally Chapman, Mrs Assia Anguelova, Mrs Amelia Natchova, Mrs Melenuta Moldovan, Mrs María Luisa Muñoz Díaz and Mrs
Fani-Yianoula Petropoulou-Tsakiris, are but some of the brave women who used the Convention and the European Court of Human Rights to protect their human rights.

But the question is, what more can we do to protect the rights and the dignity of Roma women? During your Conference you will take up a few key issues for the future of your communities.

I will start with media. The role of the media is crucial in reflecting but also shaping public attitudes. Very often the negative image of Roma through the media reinforces stereotypes. Customs and traditions are at best presented as colourful folklore, at worst as negative if not criminal characteristics. The Council of Europe has an arsenal of tools to combat prejudices. The Dosta! Awareness Campaign aims to bring non-Roma closer to Roma citizens by breaking down the barriers caused by prejudices and stereotypes. “Speak out against discrimination" is the title of the Council of Europe campaign focused primarily on the media.

The second issues is that of harmful practices. Women are more likely to be exposed to practices which qualify as inhuman or degrading treatment. Forced sterilization of Roma women was the practice in several European countries in the 20^th century. However, it remains a problem even in the 21st century and has recently taken place in Hungary and the Czech Republic. In Hungary, after the courts were unable to provide her with justice, a victim has finally been compensated by the government. In the Czech Republic the government has officially acknowledged that such practices are ongoing and has expressed its regret. The Courts have started redressing some of the victims. Such acknowledgement of wrongs committed is an important step on the part of governments and I encourage others to follow this lead.

Perhaps the most critically important issue for social emancipation is education. Nobody questions that good quality education is a
pre-requisite for breaking the vicious circle of poverty and social exclusion. Unfortunately the Roma are too often unable to gain access to this quality education.

At a Conference in Brdo, Slovenia, last May to mark the end of a Council of Europe project on the education of Roma children, participants expressed their exasperation at the lack of progress in the fight against racial segregation in education.

And at a recent meeting of the European Platform for Roma Inclusion, experts mentioned the disproportionate placement in special education in several member States and the deliberate placement in separate classes in others. Everybody agrees that this is a scandalous practice but very little is done to stop it.

And what use are schools if the child lives in a remote area without transport and what he or she calls a home is a wooden shack where doing homework is impossible? We cannot focus on education alone – we need a comprehensive programme to tackle all these problems simultaneously.

I should also like to speak about the impact of early marriages in this respect. This is a subject which notably concerns the girl child’s rights to education, health, protection, freedom from discrimination and informed consent.

Early marriages were the practice throughout Europe up to the end of the 19^th century. This practice virtually disappeared with the introduction of compulsory education for both boys and girls and with increased awareness of the health consequences of early marriages.
However this practice is still relatively common amongst the Roma. Roma women bear a great responsibility in breaking this practice which has an important detrimental effect not only on Roma women but on Roma communities as a whole.

Child marriage is a human rights violation with important health , education and individual development implications. Early marriage can cause lifelong psychological as well as physical problems, especially those resulting from early childbearing. Because it takes place almost exclusively within the context of poverty and gender inequality, it also has social, cultural and economic dimensions.

Finally I should like to add a few words about the economy. Your Conference will also tackle the issue of economic empowerment. We all know that gender equality also makes good economic sense. When women have equal access to education, and go on to participate fully in business and economic decision-making, they are a key driving force against poverty. Women with equal rights are better educated, healthier, and have greater access to financial resources. Enhancing women’s role in decision-making in the household means better prospects and greater well-being of children, reducing the poverty of future generations.

In conclusion, let me only say this:

You have a hard road ahead. You have so far shown that you are prepared to take up the challenge and fight for your rights as women, for the rights of your children and for the rights of the whole community.

Your final aim should be mainstreaming of Roma women’s rights into all activities aimed at supporting your community in its fight for equality and justice. You are the best ambassadors of your cause but you also have many people ready to support you. As I did today, do not hesitate to lend other people’s voices to carry your message. I shall always be ready to support you.

Do not flinch. Women are sometimes reputed to be stubborn and hard-headed – and that is what you need for the future.