Empowering the Roma Women: Positive practicesRoma Association of Women DROM KOTAR MESTIPEN

http://www.dromkotar.orginfo@dromkokotar.org

21 October 2015European Economic and Social Committee

Brussels

Our beginning…

The Roma Association of Women Drom Kotar Mestipen (“A path for freedom”) was created in 1999 resulting from the dialogue between Romani women and non-Romani women of different ages and backgrounds who pursued a common objective: struggle for the equality and non-discrimination between women and men within the Roma people, and promoting solidarity networks among women.

Our aims…

• Working for achieving equality and the non-discrimination among Romani women and men within the Roma community

• Overcoming the double discrimination that Romani women suffer (based on gender and on ethnicity) as well as racism and sexism that generates it.

• Collaborate with other associations and organizations that struggle for achieving equality based on the respect and the promotion of the own differences.

• Fostering and enabling egalitarian access of Romani women and girls to all educational, social and labour spaces as a way of fostering the equality of rights, opportunities, and results among all cultures.

• Promote the image of the Romani women as the one who transmits and encourages the Roma cultural identity.

OUR WAY TO EMPOWER ROMANI WOMEN: Some practices that are turning difficulties

into possibilties

Romani Women Students’ Meetings

• A space of dialogue of the Romani women and for the Romani women: we are the protagonists.

• Organized by the very Romani women, in their

neighbourhoods. There is a “chairing committee” in charge of its organisation which counts with our support throughout the entire process.

• Romani women and girls gather in order to debate and discuss about our own education, and thus find solutions related to school failure and early school leaving we want our girls and women to succeed in education and increase their opportunities in the labour market.

• Intergenerational dialogue is one of the key elements of the Meetings: we count with the participation of girls from 9 years old to Romani women aged 80 or more years old.

- Overcome stereotypes about the Romani women- Overcome absenteeism and early school leaving - Express that Romani people and Romani women do

care about the education of our children- Present new academic role models to Romani girls

and women: “Romani girls/women referents”. The table of Romani referents is a positive experience as it fosters women’s persistence or even enhances that many of them re-engage in formal or non-formal education.

“studying does not make you less Roma, it means more...!”

What are the AIMS of the Romani Women Students’ Meetings?

Cristina’s story (1)

"I got involved in DKM since I attended a Trobada. A friend told me that they were organising the Trobada in the neighbourhood and she said: yes, you should come! you will like it! My mother, as it was a Romani meeting, she said to me: yes, let's go! let's go! And I arrived there... and you can image... I was in a moment in my life that you know [she was not having a good time] You know when you say: what should I do with my life? I wanted to go ahead, to improve our lives. And when I arrived there, I sat down and started to listen to all the testimonies of those women.... wow... my god... my heart started to beat really fast, I think I even cried... And I get excited every time I think about it. That experience made me get out of my bubble... It made me realize that the world is as we see it, and sometimes we are the ones that put barriers to ourselves (...)“ (Cristina, 35 years old, Romani women)

** Currently Cristina is taking a training course to access university (people over 25 years old). She wants to study social work.

Maria’s story (2)

• Maria was a young Romani mother who had little interest in organising the Romani Students Meeting when we went to her neighborhood .... But after seeing the video of another Trobada and the example of Aurora participating as a role model and explaining her case -a young Romani women who is now a lawyer... Suddenly Maria began to cry. So I asked her: Why are you crying? And she said: it's true ... What Aurora explains is true... we (Romani women) we married young and we assume many responsibilities at a very early age. I don't want that for my daughter. I want my daughter to study and get what she wants in life... as Aurora has done ...

(Esther, Romani women member of DKM explains the case of Maria, a Romani women that will participate in the chairing committee of the next edition of the Romani Women Students’ Meeting 2015)

Jessica’s story (3)

• (...) My referent has always been my mother (...) When I'm doing my internship in the hospital and I see Roma people they thank me and they congratulate me because they see a Roma woman in the hospital. In the future I want to work in a hospital and demonstrate that it is not true what some people often says: "Look, she's a Gyspy, she can't study". Yes, I'm Roma and I'm very proud of it. I also want to say that when I finish my studies of nursing and I get married, if God allows me, I also want to do a masters in midwifery.

(Jessica, Romani women aged 22, participated as a Romani referent in the XIV Trobada in Bon Pastor). **Jessica has got married and is now studying her masters in midwifery studies)

Official Trainers Course in the Specialty of School Canteens

• This course is organized every year by DKM through giving a grant to those Romani women who want to do the training.

• It is an official certification recognized by the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya).

• This course has an overall length of 308 hours (158 hours of in-class lessons and 150 hours of internships). In addition to this, 25 hours of work are dedicated to the elaboration of a Course Report, which is submitted and evaluated by the organization that offers the course: the required level is never adapted or lowered

• Priority is given to women with no formal qualifications, those who are unemployed or residents in areas with high levels of social exclusion.

Aims of the Course

• Incorporate the voice of the Romani women in the educational centers

• Create referents for the Romani children, the Romani people and mainstream society by promoting the presence of the Romani women in public spaces such as the schools.

• Empowering Romani women to be agents of change within the educational sector

• Increase the level of academic qualification of Romani women

• Encourage the participation of Romani women in educational debates

"Let me tell you something. I've always loved to be a school canteen monitor but for me there has never been a motivation, let's say, going to a course and if there is some day that you can't attend because of family responsibilites and you have to say "I have this schedule"... You know what I mean? But here (referring to the experience of DKM), if you need something Maria comes and helps us because she knows us, because she is a Roma... so that really motivates you, a lot.... And of course at the emotional level it has been a big support counting with the support of Maria, you say: she is a Roma as me, so go ahead!"(Leticia, Romani women aged 27 years old, mother of 2 children)

**She obtained the official trainers course diploma in the specialty of school canteen monitor in the 2014 edition of the course offered by DKM. Leticia is currently working part-time in a local school of Trinitat Nova, her neighborhood in Barcelona).

Leticia, did the Romí training in the last Edition of the Course (Baró de Viver – Bon Pastor 2014-2015)

Our oldest dream…1st International Romani Women Congress:

the Other Women

• Celebrated in Barcelona on October 8-10, 2010• Organised to listen to the Voice of the “other women”• More than 300 Romani women gathered in Barcelona • A space of dream, discussion and common dialogue on

three topics: education, employment and Romani feminism

Presence in Europe through some of the EU-funded project

EDUROMA Step Forward: Empowering Young People and Women from Local Roma Communities (JUST/2012/DAP/AG/3263)

Coordinated by Drom

Kotar Mestipen

Public presence at different levels: from European to regional and local networks in order to struggle for the rights of the Romani women

At the European Level• European Women’s Lobby

• EU Civil Society Platform

against Trafficking in Human beings

• International Roma Women Network

At the National and Local level• KAMIRA. Federation of Associations

of Romani Women (Spain)• Unitarian Platform against Gender

Violences (Catalonia)• Barcelona Local Council of the Roma

People • Romani Integral Plan for the

inclusion of the Roma people• Board for the Diversity in

Audiovisuals (Catalonia)• FACEPA. Federation of Cultural and

Educational Associations of Adult people

Empowering the Roma Women: Positive practicesRoma Association of Women DROM KOTAR MESTIPEN

http://www.dromkotar.orginfo@dromkokotar.org

21 October 2015European Economic and Social Committee

Brussels