During the month that marks International Roma and Sinti Day, we chose to explore the condition of Roma women in Italy through the voice of someone who works on the ground every day. Sharing her perspective is Saska Jovanovic, activist and founder of the associations ROMNI and ROWNI. Originally from Serbia, she has lived and worked in Italy for years, where she promotes female empowerment and combats the intersectional discrimination faced by Roma women. The interviewer is Claudia Compagni.
Q: Let’s start with a question to understand the Italian context in which you work: what are some of the best practices that have emerged in Italy for the empowerment of Roma women at the local level?
A: First of all, I want to thank you for this opportunity—it’s truly an honor to share the result of years of work carried out by associations like ROMNI and ROWNI. And especially given the current historical moment, I believe it is very important to talk about how the rights of minorities, including the RSC community, are evolving—or rather, regressing. Back to your question: the empowerment of Roma women is a bottom-up process, built day by day, and begins with the direct involvement of the women themselves.
A very significant example is the ongoing RomniMe project, which has engaged—and continues to engage—young Roma women in peer mentoring activities: girls, supported by volunteer mentors, tackle concrete issues like access to services, health, and employment. This model has strengthened their self-esteem and autonomy.
Other best practices include:
- Training programs promoted by ROMNI on economic independence and female leadership;
- ROWNI’s community spaces for mothers and daughters, which foster important intergenerational bonds;
- Cultural activities like dance classes, which have had a deep and unexpected impact, becoming spaces for dialogue around identity, discrimination, and gender-based violence.
For many girls, dance has become a way to reconnect with their cultural roots—critically and constructively.
Q: All of these experiences show how important the role of organizations is for the community. Are there Roma-led NGOs?
A: There are a few in Italy, but they are definitely not the majority. The ones that do exist try to do their utmost, both practically—by supporting communities with everyday challenges like applying for documents, finding jobs, or securing housing—and by acting as bridges to institutions.
Q: It’s clear you do a lot of work! I know your associations are also active in the fight against multiple and intersectional discrimination. Can you tell us the role of Roma-led NGOs in this area?
A: Roma NGOs play a fundamental role. These organizations not only represent the authentic voice of the community, but often fill the gap left by the lack of public intervention. They offer leadership training, mentoring, and career guidance, but most importantly, they give Roma women the chance to be protagonists—not just recipients. Unfortunately, anti-Roma racism is still structural in Italy and affects the entire community. But Roma women face multiple forms of discrimination: based on gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status—in short, it’s a matter of multiple and intersectional discrimination.
NGOs work to counter this by creating safe spaces, offering concrete opportunities, and promoting women’s leadership. However, without stable funding, it’s hard to ensure continuity. These organizations are true social infrastructures and should be supported as such.
Q: You’ve often mentioned the lack of institutional support. In your opinion, what priorities should be addressed to concretely improve the condition of the Roma community—and in particular, of Roma women, who often face greater disadvantage? What are the key policy recommendations?
A: That’s a complex question because there are many aspects to tackle. But I’ll try to summarize what I believe are the key points we need to start from.
A simple yet essential guiding principle is that the most effective policies come from within the community.That’s why my first recommendation is to strengthen direct dialogue with the Roma community—especially with Roma women. This also means recognizing Roma-led NGOs as official stakeholders: institutions should turn to us to understand the real needs of the community.We can offer valuable insight and serve as a concrete bridge between institutions and the grassroots level.
But for this dialogue to work, stable funding is essential: fieldwork requires time, skills, and resources.
Another crucial aspect is guaranteed access to education and professional training. A good example is the RomniMe project, which should become part of public policy, with structured financial support. In particular, for young Roma women, education must be accompanied by scholarships—only then will many families be encouraged to support their daughters’ schooling and training paths.
It’s also essential to invest in Roma women’s entrepreneurship by promoting tools like ethical microcredit and enhancing the cultural and social activities led by women in the community.
In fact, self-employment is often a more realistic option than seeking employment, due to ongoing prejudice in the labor market. Finally—and this may be the most important recommendation—we need structural action against anti-Roma racism. This means permanent awareness campaigns, mandatory training for public employees, and the inclusion of anti-Roma racism among the top priorities of European anti-discrimination policies.
Q: A very clear and powerful message. Would you like to leave us with a final thought?
A: The Roma community is often seen as a problem—and that’s unacceptable.
Integrating a community should never be considered a problem for a democratic society. We are all human beings and deserve to feel welcome everywhere.
And above all, we Roma women are not a problem to be solved—we are an extraordinary resource for our society. But we need to be put in a position to prove it. As long as we are forced to hide who we are in order to be accepted, we will not be able to bring about real change.
The emancipation of Roma women is a fight for social justice. We will keep working every day, but we need institutions, politics, and civil society to stand by us with seriousness and consistency. Because real change is built together!
In conclusion, it’s important to highlight that the ACADE-ME project, in which ROMNI—Saska Jovanovic’s organization—is a partner, is committed to regularly publishing information, reports, and outreach materials aimed at addressing the persistent failure of social inclusion policies for Roma people. The project places education, awareness-raising, and the promotion of positive role models at the center of the fight against anti-Roma racism, discrimination, and the barriers to Roma empowerment. ACADE-ME is funded by the European program “Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values” (CERV). For more information on ACADE-ME, please visit the dedicated website.
