On 24 October 2022 we met with Petr Pollák Jr., a member of the National Council of Slovak republic (parliament), and together we talked about specific possibilities for compensation for illegally sterilized women in Slovakia.

Since last year, Mr. Pollák – being MP – has been developing an initiative so that Slovakia compensates illegally sterilized Roma women. He also met personally with representatives of the affected Romani women during the session of the Human Rights Committee of the National Council in July 2021. Subsequently, on 25 November 2021, the Slovak government apologized to all women harmed by this practice. Only their compensation has to follow.

We hope that this personal meeting with the MP will contribute to our pursued goal – that the state will finally take measures that will enable effective compensation for injured women. The Slovak government was also called upon by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its recent concluding observations from August 2022.

However, it is essential that the injured women themselves are part of setting up the compensation system and that the compensation system is set up in such a way that it is available to as many injured women as possible. Only then will justice be served.

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The advocacy meeting has been realised within the project Promoting human rights of Roma minority by using legal means of protection and in cooperation with local Roma activists supported by a program Active Citizens Fund – Slovakia that is financed from the Financial mechnism EEA 2014-2021. The program is managed by the Ekopolis Foundation in partnership with the Open Society Foundation and Carpathian Foundation.