Patriarchal patterns have a strong impact on certain Roma families, as they often reinforce traditional roles where women are subordinate to men. The hierarchy is usually clear: the father is the most important, followed by the son and then the mother and daughters. Roma women are often limited in their rights and opportunities due to patriarchal norms maintained by society and the community. Roma women are often treated as inferior, which is reflected in their limited access to education, employment and decision-making in their own lives. This also makes them more vulnerable and more easily exposed to all forms of violence.
It is precisely the violence at all levels: psychological, economic, physical and sexual, which many Roma women experience, that makes it all the more difficult for them to escape, since one form of violence reproduces another and vice versa.
Psychological violence is, in my opinion, a basis for and a consequence of other types of violence, as it has a major negative impact on the mental health of each individual. Roma women experience it in a rather classic patriarchal sense: they are labelled “whores”, “dirty” by the perpetrators - who are most often husbands, but also fathers and brothers of the victims - some of them may go out in the evening, but they are constantly under surveillance, because in many families it is still believed that a woman is worthless if she loses her virginity before marriage.
Economic violence is one of the main reasons why women return to their abusers. This is a particular problem for marginalised groups such as the Roma community, as Roma women are less employable due to the stereotypes that the majority society holds towards them and the fact that they are perceived as deviant. Moreover, employability is of course closely linked to educational attainment, which in Roma families is significantly lower than the majority society average. Although the literacy rate in Slovenia is said to be close to 100 % (taking into account people who cannot learn to write due to various developmental problems, etc.), many Roma men and women are still illiterate. This has a huge impact on their children, who are thus deprived of role models and help in learning, and there is also the problem of the lack of basic resources, such as electricity: how can a child do his homework in the dark on a winter evening? How can he concentrate on school if he does not even have access to safe drinking water? Thus, Roma women have, by definition, a lower level of education, which makes it more difficult for them to get a job and makes them more dependent on the community, of which the perpetrator of the violence is often an important part.
Physical and sexual violence are closely linked, and many Roma women and children are often covered in bruises, which many social workers simply overlook or justify on the basis of Roma culture. The same is true of underage marriages, which are forced on Roma women either because they are pushed into it by their parents (in exchange for money), or because they see early marriage as the only way out of the violence they experience in the family of origin. The document giving permission for a minor to marry is also signed by social workers, in violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under-age marriage is a form of sexual violence.
It is our duty never to accept any form of violence in any society or community. The fact that women and children who have been repeatedly treated at social work centres, placed in maternity homes and crisis centres are often completely overlooked is a form of systemic violence. By allowing, or even deliberately directing, victims to return to the environment in which they are experiencing violence, we are not only justifying it, but also encouraging it. Justifying violence against Roma women by their culture, among other things, further deepens stereotypes and stigmatises the Roma community.
Komentarji
Objavite komentar