[autom.vertaling] De actie moest de vrouwen van Rome in Europa helpen (en)

At a public hearing on Wednesday on the plight of Roma women in Europe, members of the Women's Rights Committee agreed that new policies and tangible measures are needed to tackle the problems these women face in both western and eastern European countries. There was a consensus that the position of Roma women as a forgotten and invisible minority must be changed.

The hearing was timed to contribute to an own-initiative report drafted by Lívia Járóka (EPP-ED, HU), to be presented in May. The report will deal with the most burning issues, including segregated education, access to health care, the marginal position of Roma women in the labour market, social exclusion, anti-gypsism based on prejudice, sterilisation and multiple forms of discrimination. The rapporteur hopes the report will have a positive impact on EU policy on Roma women. " We want all institutions to put Roma women high on the agenda," she stressed. The chairwoman of the committee, Anna Záborská (EPP-ED, SK), noted that " after the enlargement with ten new Member States, the Roma became the most significant minority in the European Union". In her opinion, Roma women are marginalised and special attention must be paid to them. " We must make sure that the gap and lagging behind is tackled," MEP Zita Gurmai (PSE, HU) said. Karin Resetarits (ALDE, AT) added: "We need a major campaign just for the Roma women ".

Luisella Pavan-Woolfe of the European Commission underlined that the EU has an important role to play to complement the efforts being made at local, regional and national level.

Miranda Vuolasranta of the Council of Europe urged the committee to discuss further the problems of Roma women. To describe the high level of discrimination, she recalled a blatant case in Romania: a 10 year old Roma child was recently found murdered in the apartment of an ethnic Romanian and society did not react with indignation but rather accused the mother of not taking sufficient care of her daughter. " If the situation was the opposite, there would have probably been an anti-Roma pogrom," she said, adding that action and not words was needed to combat this widespread discrimination.

Herta Toth of the Open Society Institute, Hungary, noted that 40% of the Roma people had lost their jobs after the fall of communism in her country and interestingly enough they were much better integrated into society before the change. She noted that most research was not gender-sensitive and there was little reliable data on Roma women in particular. The problem is that " most of the Roma people are invisible, they are not on the state chart," she said. 

Several speakers said that Roma women suffered double ethnic and gender discrimination. There was broad agreement that these women constitute a forgotten and invisible minority and that measures are urgently needed to deal with their situation.

23/11/2005

23/11/2005

Anna Záborská (SK) - EPP-ED - Chair

Procedure: Public Hearing