Roma women have long been held back by inequalities, poverty, dire living conditions and a lack of opportunities, says the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on International Women’s Day on 8 March.
“Too often Roma women fare far worse than men, denied opportunities to get the skills they need to find work,” said FRA’s Director Michael O’Flaherty. “We need to stand up for the rights of Roma women to help them break the chains that are holding them back from enjoying their human rights in life and in work.”
The Roma of Europe have never had meaningful access to their socio-economic rights. For women in particular, the picture is especially bleak. They remain trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, social exclusion and unemployment. Exclusion from education impedes their access to meaningful employment which condemns them to a life of poverty and poor housing conditions. Roma women then remain in poverty, with low education without employment opportunities, limiting their choices in later life.