Ethnic minority and Roma women in Europe : a case for gender equality?

Abstract

The existing evidence suggests that ethnic minority and especially Roma women are the most vulnerable to multiple discrimination and present higher risks of social exclusion and poverty than the women of the native population and minority men. There are, however, differences in the social and economic conditions of women among and within ethnic minorities and across European countries that should be considered in order to frame suggestions for policymaking. This comparative report presents the socio-economic conditions and perspectives of women belonging to disadvantaged ethnic minorities, with special attention to Roma women. The analysis focuses on those ethnic minorities that suffer the most disadvantages in a given national context, mainly in terms of access to education, housing, healthcare, social benefits, and to employment and financial services. The report also presents the main legislative and policy responses developed at the national level to target their social inclusion with some good practice examples. The information in this report is provided by the national experts of the EGGSI Network of experts in gender equality, social inclusion, healthcare and long-term care and covers 30 European countries (EU and EEA/ EFTA) (1 ). The report is organised in two parts: Part 1 (from Chapter 1 to 4) presents the situation of women belonging to disadvantaged ethnic minorities in general, while Part 2 (from Chapter 5 to 8) focuses on Roma women. Some overall conclusions are presented in the final chapter.