The Council of Europe has just published the study Empowerment of Roma and Traveller women: a change under construction - Towards a Roadmap for Advancing Gender Equality of Roma and Traveller Women in Council of Europe member states, drawn up by Dr. Zora Popova.
Roma and Traveller women are confronted with intersectional challenges and multi-dimensional discrimination. The increased awareness of the fact that a person can be exposed to discrimination based on several personal factors or on their intersection, has had a direct impact on international and national anti-discrimination standards and legislation. However, despite the development of targeted measures and the overall achievements of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls remain goals unreached in the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, and even further out of reach for minority and Roma and Traveller women.
The study offers a structured approach for bringing together the measures taken by Council of Europe (CoE) member states to address intersectional challenges faced by Roma and Traveller women. This approach will enable the development of a coherent policy, which decision makers, in co-operation with Roma and Traveller civil society and other stakeholders, can apply and/or adapt with respect to the specific national contexts.
The research analyses strategic policy documents of selected member states in a comparative perspective and provides examples of good practice collected through a thematic survey disseminated amongst Council of Europe member states.
