MINELRES: UN Committee on Sinti and Roma Women in Germany

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <errc@errc.org>


For Immediate Release
Contact: Claude Cahn, ERRC: (+36) 20 98 36 445
Miriam Anati, EUMAP: (+36) 30 2748533

ERRC and EUMAP Welcome UN Findings on Discrimination against Sinti and
Roma Women in Germany

Budapest and New York, 1 March 2004 - The European Roma Rights Center
(ERRC) and the EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) welcome the
Concluding Observations of the United Nations Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressing concern at the
treatment of Sinti and Roma women in Germany. The Committee, in its
regular review of Germany's compliance with the Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), concluded that
Sinti and Roma women in Germany "suffer from multiple forms of
discrimination based on sex, ethnic or religious background and race."

An ERRC/EUMAP shadow report, submitted to CEDAW in the run-up to the
Committee's review, outlined Germany's failure to provide legal
protection for Sinti and Roma women, who often face both gender and
ethnic discrimination. The report argued that many Sinti and Roma women
and girls in Germany are excluded from a range of protections guaranteed
by the Convention, notably in the areas of education, employment, health
and participation in public and political life. "In every area of life
Sinti and Roma women bear a double burden of discrimination, as women
and as a minority," said EUMAP's researcher Alphia Abdikeeva.

The ERRC/EUMAP report noted that since little information existed on
Sinti and Roma women and girls living in Germany, there was no basis for
the German government to create policies that address the discrimination
they experience. In its Concluding Observations, the Committee similarly
criticised Germany for its lack of data on migrant and minority women,
including Sinti or Roma women.

The Committee urged Germany to "eliminate discrimination against migrant
and minority women, both in society at large and within their
communities, and to respect and promote their human rights, through
effective and proactive measures, including awareness-raising
programmes." It recommended that Germany continue to conduct research on
issues of discrimination, as well as trafficking and sexual
exploitation.

"We welcome the Committee's attention to these matters and look forward
to the German government's next actions in the field of Romani women's
rights," said Dimitrina Petrova, Executive Director of the ERRC.

The Concluding Observations of the Committee on Germany's compliance
with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women are available at:
http://www.ohchr.org/tbru/cedaw/Germany.pdf


The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is an international public
interest law organisation based in Budapest, Hungary, which monitors the
human rights situation of Roma and provides legal defence in cases of
human rights abuse. The ERRC has monitored the human rights situation of
Roma in Germany since first opening offices in 1996, and has been
involved in litigation in a number of cases involving Roma rights in
Germany. Further information on the European Roma Rights Center is
available on the web at 
www.errc.org.

The EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP), formerly the EU
Accession Monitoring Program, monitors human rights and rule of law
issues in Europe. A program of the Open Society Institute (OSI) in
Budapest, EUMAP has published a series of reports on Minority
Protection, including a comprehensive report on the situation of Sinti
and Roma in Germany. EUMAP reports on Minority Protection and on other
topics may be accessed on the web at www.eumap.org
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