ROMNI ONLUS OCTOBER 2017 SUMMARY

Romni Onlus is based in Rome, Italy and brings together Roma and non-Roma women to work together regardless of their origin. Since 2010, Romni Onlus and its founder Saska Jovanovic have had the opportunity to confront the European realities of other Roma associations and beyond. Javanovic has participated in the various working tables where  the association has shared and addressed the problems of the Roma women and has paid particular attention on ensuring that the most vulnerable Roma women from her community, that those voices are heard.

In 2014 the desire to form a network where all Roma and Sinti women in Italy and elsewhere, can find the right support and a space free from any form of prejudice and discrimination, was born. The National Network received funding from the Open Society Foundations-Roma Initiatives Office, the first meeting of the various Roma women from various Italian regions, activists in the cultural and cultural promotion of Roma women  and migrants attended the meeting. The project envisaged the creation of a strong national network of Romani associations and activists, working on common goals through concrete and significant actions, including the organization of a conference on  the 8th of  March 2014, which is the International Women’s Day.

Romni Onlus was part of the 1st Roma Women’s International Congress in 2010 and has continued to work for the rights of her community. The organization has been a pillar of activist work taking place in Rome, Italy and has been invited to be part of several working groups, political entities and larger networks. They are now part of the 2nd Roma Women’s International Congress and are working closely with grassroots Roma Women whom suffer triple exclusion and are vulnerably classed in Italy.

As preparation for the 2nd Congress, Saska Javanovic met with local women from her community to discuss the thematic strands that were proposed by the Pre-Congress delegates. They agreed that indeed, education, health, economy and housing are fundamental to their lives and directly having on impact on their livelihood. However, a few more topics were uncovered and proposed to discuss during March’s event.

• Violence: Both physical and psychological abuse are affecting Roma women.
• Fertility: For the Roma woman and for the Roma community, the concept of fertility is very important and it is therefore essential to demonstrate it to the community. If the woman is not fertile, it may lead to prejudices. The woman must feel within her the need to become a mother and not the pressure of her family and her own community.
• Marriage and Motherhood: The young Roma women whom attended the meeting said “we young Rom women who have never suffered violence we can advise to wait for a few years of marriage (2 years) and only later, if you want a pregnancy, to try to get pregnant”. This time and permission allows the individual personal and physical growth and then the concept of becoming a mother is a choice rather than an assumed. The cultivating of one’s personal needs to achieve their own satisfaction and then take care of their own family, is a choice
• Education and the Roma camps: Many women in the camps want to further their education and it is an area that needs more attention.
• Documentation: the documents and proving identity is areal concern for many of the Roma women in Italy. Many do not hold the correct documents and so are seen as not having an identity and this greatly affects their daily life and inhibits their ability to look and secure a job.
• Housing: Living in housing conditions that can ensure the healthy and balanced growth of the woman but also of her own children and not live in the so-called “equipped villages” that only worsen the situation of our people.
• Work: With a job the woman feels satisfied and independent of her husband, we believe that work is above all a protection for the woman because if she wants will, for any reason, separate from her husband and continue to live a dignified life without feeling “dependent” on man.
• Religion: According to us, the church inside the Roma camps would not bring any positive aspect but anxiety and would lead to emphasizing the ghetto-field concept.
• Political: We, Roma automatically face barriers because we are not politically oriented, and therefore we are not even important at the time of the elections, because Roma and Sinti from Italy for various reasons do not go voting. Since we do not belong to any party, we are not automatically under any protection.