On 13 May 2025, we participated in an online meeting with a delegation from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), which preceded their official visit to Slovakia. We spoke with the delegation about the persistent discrimination against Roma and Romani women, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare, which we have been monitoring and analysing in our work for a long time. We also shared our views on the solutions that the Slovak Republic is adopting in these areas and assessed their practical impact on the life of the Roma community.

As an organisation dedicated to protecting the Roma minority from discrimination in various areas of life, we shared with ECRI our experiences from the field or strategic legal work. In the interview we highlighted, among other things:

Unequal access of Roma children to education and their segregation,

The low availability of quality health care for Roma communities, especially women and children,

The forthcoming law on compensation for forcibly sterilized women and the need for a dignified and fair approach to this issue,

the persistent segregation of Roma women in maternity wards

The humiliating behaviour of medical staff towards Roma women in some hospitals,

The persistence of poor living conditions in marginalised localities and the lack of systemic solutions,

Continuing problems with police violence against Roma and the lack of state accountability for these acts.

We thank the ECRI delegation for inviting us to this important dialogue and for their interest in the situation of Roma and Roma women in Slovakia. We hope that this visit will also help to strengthen the efforts for equality and justice in our society.