Romani feminism, less commonly known as Gypsy feminism, is a form of feminism that promotes gender equality for Romani women while making these processes compatible with the preservation of the culture and values of the Romani people.
Romani feminism is characterized by the fight to overcome prejudices and the distinction both towards Roma society and towards women, in addition to the stigma associated with poverty.
Throughout history, the Romani ethnic group has been despised and persecuted by different societies. Many groups still preserve a characteristic culture, with its own language, traditions or customs, where family and solidarity among its members is of great importance.
In the 1920s and 1930s there was early Romani political activism in central Europe; this included the proposal of a female-only branch of the nascent General Union of Roma in Romania to educate and empower Romani women. There were organizations formed to organize for Roma rights since at least the 1960s, but the movement was popularized in the 1990s following the end of the Cold War. In the same decade, a number of Romani women led national campaigns against gender-based oppression in relation to Roma communities. One of the first explicitly Roma womenâÂÂs organizations, the Gypsy Mother Association, was established in Hungary in 1991 by Ilona Zambo. In the United Kingdom, Sylvia Dunn formed the National Association of Gypsy Women in 1994.
The late 1990s saw the formation and involvement of several non-governmental organizations. For example, the Open Society Institute held its first International Conference of Romani Women in 1998 and provided funding for the European Roma Rights Centre, which opened in 1996. At the Primer Congreso Gitano de la Unión Europea (First Gypsy Congress of the European Union) in 1994, a group of 29 Romani women issued the Manifesto of Roma/Gypsy Women; as a result, the Council of Europe organized a hearing for Romani women's rights in 1995.
The Gitanas movement of Spanish Romani women emerged in 1990, the same year the first Romani feminist women's association in Spain was formed, the Asociación de Mujeres Gitanas ROMI, in Granada. Since then, many other collectives have been created throughout the country.
One of the biggest challenges for the Roma community is to maintain the Roma tradition and identity while respecting the decision and freedom of women. This feminist trend seeks equality by claiming the right to be different.
Among the aspects most defended by this group are access to housing, education and the visibility of women. Although there are also many others, such as the normalization of sexual diversity.
The treatment or oppression of women within Roma society is debated among Romani activists.
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