WUNRN
Direct Link to Macedonia Report:
LITTLE BY LITTLE WE WOMEN HAVE
LEARNED OUR RIGHTS.
THE MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT'S FAILURE
TO UPHOLD THE RIGHTS OF ROMANI WOMEN & GIRLS
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
Macedonia:
Little by Little We Women Have Learned Our Rghts: The Government’s Failure to
Uphold the Rghts of Romani Women and Girls
6 December 2007
I wanted to go to school but we needed to pay for food, for clothes. My mother
did not have any education. My father died when he was very young. So I needed
to take care of myself and there was no money for school.
Silvana, a Romani woman talking to Amnesty International
Romani women in Macedonia suffer double discrimination -- on the grounds of
their gender and their ethnicity, according to Amnesty International. In a
report published today, the organization calls on the Macedonian authorities to
break the pattern of discrimination against Romani women.
"This long-recognized double discrimination is widespread, routine and
pervasive. Romani women and girls suffer from intersecting and overlapping
forms of discrimination which, in many cases, go hand in hand with
poverty," said Sian Jones, Amnesty International's researcher on
Macedonia.
Amnesty International's report, Macedonia: The government’s failure to uphold
the rights of Romani women and girls, provides evidence of discrimination
against Romani women in accessing three basic human rights: the right to
education, the right to employment and the right to health, as well as violence
against women as a form of discrimination.
The report also notes that significant number of Roma, including Romani women,
who do not have birth certificates or citizenship cannot access basic services,
including education, social insurance and health care.
"At school, Romani girls are faced with stereotyped low expectations from
teachers which, along with the absence of free primary education, leads to the
majority of girls dropping out of school before they complete their
education," Sian Jones said.
The failure of the Macedonian authorities to guarantee the right to free and
compulsory education means that more than half of Romani women -- an estimated
66 per cent -- are only able to find work in the informal economy, unprotected
by labour or health and safety laws. Those employed by state institutions work
predominantly as cleaners. Only a small percentage of university-educated
Romani women are able to find employment in professional or managerial posts.
"When Romani women do find work they often face verbal abuse and
harassment from their employers. Romani women work in worse conditions, for
longer hours and for lower pay than non-Romani women," Sian Jones said.
Romani women find it very difficult, in some cases impossible, to secure health
care for themselves or for their children. They may not have health insurance
at all or because of poverty they may not be able to afford basic medicines or
even medical treatment. In addition, Romani women may face direct
discrimination by health workers, including in being refused access to
treatment.
"The Macedonian government has, to date, failed to adopt a comprehensive
anti-discrimination framework that would enable Romani women to secure their
rights and challenge abuses."
Violence against women occurs in all communities and across all social groups
in Macedonia. An estimated 70 per cent of Romani women have reported domestic
abuse. However, when Romani women report -- if they report such violence at all
-- law enforcement officers often fail to respond appropriately and may further
subject them to racist abuse and discriminatory treatment.
Amnesty International is concerned that successive governments have
consistently failed to address the human rights of Roma. The organization is
also concerned that the current administration has failed to respond to the
challenge of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, which aimed to introduce measures to
ensure that all Roma in Macedonia are guaranteed their rights including access to
education, work, health care and adequate housing. Where action has been taken,
it has not been taken by the government, but rather by domestic and
international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Romani NGOs, and
with international funding.
Amnesty International calls on the European Union to continue their monitoring
of the state’s progress towards meeting the human rights standards set out for
candidate member countries, ensuring that with respect to the protection and
improvement of the rights of minorities, the rights of Romani women and girls
are fully considered.
"If racial and gender discrimination persist, Romani women are unlikely to
escape the cycle of poor education that traps them in low-paid jobs, while
further discrimination denies them access to health care and social security
and condemns many to a life of poverty," Sian Jones said.
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