Fyrom's failure to address double discrimination

[Truth Bearer]

Fyrom: Government's failure to address double discrimination against Romani women and girls
by via AI
Thursday Dec 6th, 2007 7:13 AM
I wanted to go to school but we needed to pay for food, for clothes. My mother did not have any education. My father died when he was very young. So I needed to take care of myself and there was no money for school.Silvana, a Romani woman talking to Amnesty InternationalRomani women in Macedonia suffer double discrimination -- on the grounds of their gender and their ethnicity, according to Amnesty International.
In a report published today, the organization calls on the Macedonian authorities to break the pattern of discrimination against Romani women.
"This long-recognized double discrimination is widespread, routine and pervasive. Romani women and girls suffer from intersecting and overlapping forms of discrimination which, in many cases, go hand in hand with poverty," said Sian Jones, Amnesty International's researcher on Macedonia.

Amnesty International's report, Macedonia: The government's failure to uphold the rights of Romani women and girls, provides evidence of discrimination against Romani women in accessing three basic human rights: the right to education, the right to employment and the right to health, as well as violence against women as a form of discrimination.

The report also notes that significant number of Roma, including Romani women, who do not have birth certificates or citizenship cannot access basic services, including education, social insurance and health care.

"At school, Romani girls are faced with stereotyped low expectations from teachers which, along with the absence of free primary education, leads to the majority of girls dropping out of school before they complete their education," Sian Jones said.

The failure of the Macedonian authorities to guarantee the right to free and compulsory education means that more than half of Romani women -- an estimated 66 per cent -- are only able to find work in the informal economy, unprotected by labour or health and safety laws. Those employed by state institutions work predominantly as cleaners. Only a small percentage of university-educated Romani women are able to find employment in professional or managerial posts.

"When Romani women do find work they often face verbal abuse and harassment from their employers. Romani women work in worse conditions, for longer hours and for lower pay than non-Romani women," Sian Jones said.

Romani women find it very difficult, in some cases impossible, to secure health care for themselves or for their children. They may not have health insurance at all or because of poverty they may not be able to afford basic medicines or even medical treatment. In addition, Romani women may face direct discrimination by health workers, including in being refused access to treatment.

"The Macedonian government has, to date, failed to adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination framework that would enable Romani women to secure their rights and challenge abuses."

Violence against women occurs in all communities and across all social groups in Macedonia. An estimated 70 per cent of Romani women have reported domestic abuse. However, when Romani women report -- if they report such violence at all -- law enforcement officers often fail to respond appropriately and may further subject them to racist abuse and discriminatory treatment.

Amnesty International is concerned that successive governments have consistently failed to address the human rights of Roma. The organization is also concerned that the current administration has failed to respond to the challenge of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, which aimed to introduce measures to ensure that all Roma in Macedonia are guaranteed their rights including access to education, work, health care and adequate housing. Where action has been taken, it has not been taken by the government, but rather by domestic and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Romani NGOs, and with international funding.

Amnesty International calls on the European Union to continue their monitoring of the state's progress towards meeting the human rights standards set out for candidate member countries, ensuring that with respect to the protection and improvement of the rights of minorities, the rights of Romani women and girls are fully considered.

"If racial and gender discrimination persist, Romani women are unlikely to escape the cycle of poor education that traps them in low-paid jobs, while further discrimination denies them access to health care and social security and condemns many to a life of poverty," Sian Jones said.

See: Macedonia: Little by little we women have learned our rights: the government's failure to uphold the rights of Romani women and girls, AI Index: EUR 65/004/2007 http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur650042007
Macedonia: "Little by little we women have learned our rights": The Macedonian government's failure to uphold the rights of Romani women and girls: Summary (AI Index: EUR 65/003/2007) http://web.amnesty.org/engeur650032007 (The summary of the report is also available in Macedonian)

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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: Amnesty International - Working To Protect Human Rights Worldwide

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[Truth Bearer]

Funny how they claim we mistreat their people and yet these same bozos mistreat everyone else....Shame on them for maipulating the system for their own superficial goals......

[masolord]

Originally Posted by Truth Bearer

Funny how they claim we mistreat their people and yet these same bozos mistreat everyone else....Shame on them for maipulating the system for their own superficial goals......

why are you being hypocrite TB??
Greece is much worse than us ok,look how your treat immgarents

[Victor]

Originally Posted by masolord

why are you being hypocrite TB??
Greece is much worse than us ok,look how your treat immgarents

HUGE difference.Greece actually attracts immigrants because there is oportunity.fyrom is having a hard time trying to stop there own people from leaving.

[Euklid]

Why do you hold the argument that Greece treats the minorities, immigrants like shit?

Aren't you aware that Greece is host to both a large number of immigrants..and similarly a large number of different immigrant's? Only visiting Salonike..you will find Serbs, Bulgars, Russians(Eastern bloque, in general), Albanians, Chinese, Nigerians, all going by their days peacefully..makin a living...as every other immigrant in a peaceful European country, save France, which is being fucked.

Dont you think, that since you are not aware of Greece's state of being..and you simply re-produce idiotic arguments..others are not aware either..i remind you Greece last year had 16 million tourists from every single corner of the earth..don you think that these people did not witness the openness of the Ellina, the immigrants and their state of being?

In simple terms..these foreign people if you tell them that..they will categorize you in their heads with the classic nationalist indoctrinated..idiot, whose first communication with a foreign country is through well-known.. domestic oppression-related calendars. Nobody in his right mind, pays attention to ex-commies with an uncovered nationalist agenda that extends throughout their whole identity, who at the same time re-produce the classic oppression. The oppression argument is a template....one just replaces the names and one has got an imagined argument..those who are true..and use the template..are mocked today..those who are false and use the template..are mocked even greater..whoever uses the template is a ridicule..at this point of time..especially when the template is targeted to a Liberal EU Democracy.