The 2011 census places the size of the self-declared Roma community
\nin Romania at 621,200, but in reality it is much more numerous, and has not
\nbeen studied seriously by sociologists. This is the conclusion of the study
\nentitled ‘Positive Aspects of Migration. Roma Women as Agents of Change’. This
\nresearch, performed by the Eurocentrica foundation with funding from EEA
\nGrants, wanted to identify the effects of seasonal migration abroad on Roma
\nwomen and on their status in their communities. At the same time, the study
\nwanted to reveal some of the social relations within this little known
\nminority, which results in it being afflicted by stereotypes, as Gabriela
\nDragan, head of the European Institute of Romania, pointed out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Gabriela Dragan: This is a group that feels discriminated against, and it
\nis not just a perception. I looked at the Eurobarometer from June 2015, using a
\nsample of 28,000 European citizens. One of the questions was: ‘Do you believe
\nthat ethnic discrimination is widespread?’ 64% of the respondents said they
\nthought it was extremely widespread. The ethnic discrimination question
\nreferred to the Roma population, as well as to other ethnicities. Another
\nquestion, however, seemed to me even more interesting: how many of them would
\nfeel uncomfortable if their children had a relationship with a person of
\nanother ethnicity? 34% of them said they would feel extremely uncomfortable if
\ntheir children had a relationship with a Roma person. This is the highest
\npercentage of European citizens who said that. The exception is reservations
\ntowards transsexuals. The reality is that there is such a perception towards
\nthis group, and definitely the perception is motivated by certain real
\nelements.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Seeking to escape discrimination, but also an economic
\nsituation that is more than precarious, a lot of Roma move to Europe, seeking
\nbetter living conditions. Some of them go to Norway, where people from the Eurocentrica
\nfoundation followed them. Their study focused on Roma women from three specific
\ncommunities in Gorj County, in Romania. They spoke to the women both at home
\nand in Norway, which they reached after wandering across Europe, as one of the
\nauthors of the study, Liviu Iancu, told us. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Liviu Iancu: This research revealed some very interesting aspects on
\nthe way in which the migration destinations for the Roma change from south to
\nnorth, depending on Europe’s socio-economic evolution. If around the year 2000,
\nfor instance, they went to do farm work in Portugal, after the crisis broke out
\nthey changed destinations and started going to Scandinavian countries. Here,
\nlabor regulations exclude them from the labor market, so many of them are
\nrelegated to begging. There are exceptions, and many of them want to work, but
\nthe legal barriers, the language barriers, and other obstacles of this type do
\nnot encourage them to this end. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In addition to discrimination, poverty and lack of
\neducation, Roma women are faced with a number of problems specific to them, as
\nwe were told by Cristina Tanase, program manager with the Save the Children
\nFoundation, who is herself Roma.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Cristina Tanase: It is true that women are not equal to men, but depending
\non the Roma ethnic group that they belong to, inequality is more or less accentuated.
\nFor instance, at meals they are not allowed to sit at the same table as the
\nhusband, and she has to walk behind the husband.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Migration seems to do little to improve the status of
\nwomen, but rather to place a further burden on them. Here is Liviu Iancu: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As far as women are concerned, as the target of this
\nstudy, we saw that migration changes their status. Family atmosphere is better,
\nconsidering that resources obtained as a result of migration are better. Also,
\nmigration is risky, so they take part in family decisions more often than
\nbefore. When men are no longer able to fulfill their traditional role of
\nproviding for the family -they are ill or are not at home for whatever reason -
\nwomen have to give up the social restrictions specific to their community and
\ntake their fate in their own hands: bring in income, care for sick relatives,
\nand get involved in the process of migration.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The results of the study, however, can also be
\ninterpreted in another way, as pointed out by Gabriela Dragan: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We had 26 questions, many related to their status, such
\nas what they were doing in Norway or how they earned their money. The questions
\nthat could reveal changes in the status of women were the following: ‘Has
\nanything changed in your family since you arrived in Norway?’, ‘What has
\nchanged?’. We got over 50% ‘yes’ answers to the first question. In this case,
\nwe had to see what had changed. Incomes were somewhat higher. That led to a
\nchange in family atmosphere. Asked if anything had changed in the decision
\nmaking process, 70% of respondents answered ‘no’. Things are slow to change.
\nCultural patterns don’t change in a short time, they take a long time or don’t
\noccur at all. Cultural patterns don’t change easily, they are extremely hard to
\nchange. The hypothesis of the study was interesting, but as far as I’m
\nconcerned, changes are not visible.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For mentalities to change, Cristina Tanase believes, the
\nexperience of migration has to be completed by education: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Education shows results. If in other countries the Roma
\nhave contact with the majority population there, there is a possibility for
\nthem to self-educate depending on the culture they integrate in. For instance,
\nI got a lot from the majority population. Which is why the ‘Save the Children’
\nassociation emphasizes education and we develop training projects for Roma and
\nnon-Roma teachers, so that Roma culture and tradition are known, but also for
\nparents to participate in the children’s activities, to learn from each other.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In addition to sociology research, the project ‘Positive
\nAspects of Migration’ included organizing two festivals with Roma craftsmen. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 2011 census places the size of the self-declared Roma community in Romania at 621,200 , but the real figure is much higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":141673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43512,43511,29207,43510],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-141672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-save-the-children-foundation","tag-eurocentrica","tag-migration","tag-roma-population"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n