On 9 July 2024, we met with the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, in Košice. We discussed with him the findings of our monitoring of violations of the rights of Roma, as well as our strategic court cases we are pursuing in this regard.

We paid a lot of attention to the situation of disadvantaged Roma women and the multiple and intersectional discrimination they face, particularly in access to reproductive healthcare. We discussed, among other things:

  • Our strategic court case against the segregation of Roma women in the “Roma rooms” at the maternity ward of the Prešov hospital
  • The segregation of Roma women in the maternity wards of some other hospitals and the cases of documented segregation of Roma children in paediatric wards
  • The case of separate opening hours for Roma women in one of the gynaecological clinics
  • Unequal access of Roma from some excluded communities to emergency health services
  • Humiliation and racist abuse of Roma women by medical staff in some hospitals 

We also talked together about racially motivated police violence and shortcomings in its investigation, as well as unequal access to education for Roma children and their segregation. 

In addition to our team, the Commissioner also met with Roma women from villages Jarovnice and Hermanovce, with whom we have been cooperating for a long time. He talked to them about illegal sterilisations and supported their long-standing efforts to enforce a law that would make it possible to compensate all women harmed by this practice. Roma women shared with the Commissioner the various manifestations of racism and discrimination that they themselves, and other Roma in Slovakia, continue to face.   

The Commissioner is due to meet representatives of several ministries in the coming days. He will discuss with them the shortcomings in the protection of the rights of Roma minority and push for the necessary measures to be taken by the government in this area.  

On behalf of Roma women, we thank the Commissioner and his team for the meeting.