Roma Community Research Articles

War against the Poor: Social Violence Against Roma in Eastern Europe During COVID-19 at the Intersection of Class and Race

This article positions the social violence against Roma in Eastern Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic in historical perspective. It is based on primary data derived from the project Marginality on the Margins of Europe – The Impact of COVID-19 on Roma Communities in Non-EU Countries in Eastern Europe, collected in 2020 by researchers in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. This data is contextualised with the help of secondary literature on historical epidemics and pandemics, as well as societal responses to them, with a particular focus on the ensuing scapegoating of minorities in certain cases. The article first makes the case for the importance of historicising such responses to pandemics in different contexts as a safeguard against ‘exceptionalising’ either the ongoing pandemic or the Roma minority. Further, it argues against a reductionist perspective that treats the Roma primarily – or even exclusively – along the lines of their representing a ‘national minority’, a concept that is heavily tilted toward a cultural-linguistic definition of the group. In contrast, it posits that hate speech and racist incidents against the Roma in the context of the pandemic (and more generally) are better understood by factoring in the intersection of race and class, where the long-standing racialization of the Roma in Eastern Europe is inflected by the latter as much as the former. Finally, zooming out from the case study under consideration to consider other instances of ‘Othering’ encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic, it draws attention to the different scales at which exclusion operates, and to the advantages provided by an awareness of the multiple spatial and temporal layers constitutive of such a scalar approach.

Introduction to Special Issue “Marginality on the Margins of Europe – The Impact of COVID-19 on Roma Communities in Non-EU Countries in Eastern Europe”

Introduction to Special Issue “Marginality on the Margins of Europe – The Impact of COVID-19 on Roma Communities in Non-EU Countries in Eastern Europe”

Understanding the Impact of the First Wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Access to Education of Roma Communities in Ukraine Using Ogbu’s Cultural-Ecological Theory

The global COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and in some cases exacerbated the already precarious education of Roma children in Ukraine. This study aims to understand how the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the education of Roma children by taking a wider look at structural issues affecting the Roma community. Using mixed methods in the form of interviews with stakeholders and a survey, this paper will engage in the larger structure-agency debate through the lens of Ogbu’s cultural-ecological theory, Foster’s enhancements of it, and Crenshaw’s idea of intersectionality. The results show that between March 2020 and June 2020 the most vulnerable people in society were the ones most negatively impacted by the lockdowns and secondary effects of the pandemic. Underlying structural issues, underfunded and segregated schools with non-inclusive curriculums, intergenerational inequality, the digital divide, language barriers, intersectionality, and the pandemic’s negative impacts on Roma parents are some of the causes that Roma families reported as barriers which keep Roma children from being able to access education. However, with the agency Roma individuals have, they chose how to respond to structural oppression. This paper also demonstrates the harmful impacts of stereotypes that deem a culture to be innately resistant to education. Throughout this paper, there is a nuanced discussion which engages with previous research and theories and applies them to the new data, in order to provide a general understanding of topics that have not been heavily researched.

Exploring the challenges and opportunities to address childhood immunisation hesitancy in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities

Exploring the challenges and opportunities to address childhood immunisation hesitancy in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities

Acculturation and school engagement: The case of Portuguese students with Roma background

There is well-documented evidence on the relationships between the perceived utility value of school, positive learning outcomes, and intention to pursue education. For students from ethnic marginalized or economically deprived backgrounds, beliefs and values on the utility of education are shaped by acculturation conditions and hassles they are often exposed to. Despite recognizing the value of education, students from the Roma community show disengagement behaviors and interrupted educational trajectories. This might contribute to disadvantaged positions in education, labor markets, healthcare, and political life. Grounded on the acculturation framework, this study investigated how and to what extent micro-level acculturation contexts – family and school – influence school-based outcomes (e.g., utility beliefs; School Engagement [SE]) of students with Roma background. The empirical data draws on a sample of 213 students collected in eleven schools across Portugal. Results are insightful, providing evidence of how different socialization agents bolster school engagement dimensions. Moreover, data provided evidence on the most effective forms of parental and teacher involvement to support the utility value of school and education. Together findings open avenues to challenge further deficit perspectives underscoring policies and educational interventions targeting the achievement gap among students with Roma background.

Connectivity between Frequency of Toothbrushing and Dental Caries

The goal of this research was to evaluate the oral health of the children of the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian (RAE) community in relation to toothbrushing frequency. Methods and Results: A total of 201 children (93 boys and 108 girls) participated in this research. The decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index of deciduous teeth and the simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) developed by Greene and Vermillion were evaluated in relation to toothbrushing frequency. Our research revealed an important and significant difference in toothbrushing frequency between the variables for F=3.7839 and P=0.0244. Children who brushed their teeth twice a day had a markedly lower DMFT index (3.15±3.29) than children who brushed their teeth less than once a day (4.86±3.81). Also, this group of children for P=0.02 had a markedly lower DMFT index (3.15±3.29) than children who brushed their teeth once a day (4.86±3.81). An important and significant difference was found between plaque index (PI) and toothbrushing frequency (H=7.86, P=0.02). Conclusion: Difficult economic circumstances and poor oral hygiene are the main factors causing poor oral health in this group of children.

Religious Affiliation as a Political Site of Contestation? Polemical Voices of a New Generation of Romanian Romani Authors*

Abstract The 1990s and the early 2000s was a period of revitalization of the Romani studies in Romania. Participants in the process were non-Roma as well as Roma authors. The religious practices and the affiliations of the Romanies was regarded to be a significant matter to start building a dignified profile of the ethnic group from the perspective of the in - group members who ventured to participate in knowledge production,. If a first generation of Roma intellectuals were more concerned to find corelations and provide explanations in a more or less essentialized fashion, the analysis of the scientific literature authored by a young generation of the in-group members indicate a certain tendency to over-politicize the topic of religiosity and the religious affiliation of the Romanian Romanies. In the process, the Romanian Orthodox Church has been turned into a target. Specifically, the acknowledgment that the dominating religious actor from Romania took part in the perpetuation of the state of slavery of the Romanies makes the Romanian Orthodoxy vulnerable to a series of recent public attacks. This inglorious past is used to symbolically and rhetorically justify the ongoing reaffiliation of the Romanies to neo-Protestant churches. Recognizably, the politicization of the religious affiliation of the minority group was started by a first generation of Romanian Roma intellectuals and the young generation only intensified their attacks. If one considers the in-group knowledge production in a comparative manner, one can realize that a first generation of Romanian Roma intellectuals found it reasonable to accommodate the Romanipen to the religious background dominating in Romania, while a young generation has chosen to overtly and loudly confront the national hegemon religious institution. This is the main trend, but, as I will demonstrate it is not at all a unique approach to the religiosity of the Romanies as undertook by in-group voices. Some Romanian Roma authors have preferred to re-write back to their ethnic and generational peers and to take side with the Romanian Orthodox Church. In their research, the Romanies end up being blamed by a mendacious relation to the religious institution to which the majority Romanian population has been affiliating for centuries. At the same time, the neo-Protestant churches are suspected to act superficially and their missionary work among the Roma communities could be indirectly suggested to represent the convenient meeting ground between two religious scammers. In the present paper I discuss to what extent the new generation of Romanian Roma intellectuals have considered suitable to weaponize the knowledge production on this specific matter and outline the political stakes behind the arguments employed to carry this symbolical and rhetorical battle between in-group narratives.

Diaspora românească din Ungaria în perioada postcomunistă – Portrete de intelectuali

When we talk about the Romanians in Hungary, especially about the life of the community in post-communism, we cannot omit the fact that alongside the historical community here there are representatives of a Romanian diaspora who are actively involved in community life, participating in the common effort to preserve the Romanian identity. The Romanian intellectuals who migrated in the last three decades to the area populated by Romanians in western Hungary or to Budapest, managed to leave their mark on the cultural, journalistic, educational and spiritual life of the Romanians here. Analyzing their identity path, the way in which they managed to integrate into the historical Romanian community in Hungary, but also the challenges and difficulties encountered due to the different cultural code, can provide a clearer perspective on how this Romanian community currently lives and functions, outside the borders of Romania, being in a permanent transformation, trying to preserve their ethnic identity and resist assimilation.

The multidimensional achievements of the Emancipation and Reawakening Movement of the Roma from Romania, covered in the newspaper “Glasul Romilor” (The Voice of the Roma) (1934–1941) (I)

The study focuses on the detailed analysis of the multidimensional achievements obtained by the promoters of the Emancipation and Reawakening Movement of Roma from Romania, which were covered in 15 issues of the newspaper “Glasul Romilor” (The Voice of the Roma) (1934–1941). Starting from 1933, the call for the unity of the Roma (gypsy) nation has been widely propagated by the “first emancipated and reawakened” Roma leaders; this „social and cultural outbreak” could be considered a crucial compartment in the History of the Roma in Romania. On November 15, 1934, in the first issue of the newspaper “Glasul Romilor”, the 15 objectives of the Roma Emancipation and Reawakening Program, developed by the leaders of the Association “General Union of Roma from Romania” were presented “for the accessible understanding of all Roma”. Based on the detailed analysis of 15 issues of the newspaper “Glasul Romilor” (1934–1941), 38 multidimensional achievements obtained by the members of the Association “General Union of Roma from Romania” in four areas of activity: cultural, economic, social and national, were highlighted. The two priority areas in which the protagonists of the Roma Emancipation and Reawakening Movement revealed their activity were: Cultural (14 achievements) and Social (10 achievements); (24/38 = 63%). The most essential result from the point of view of the strengthening of the Roma ethnic identity was the proliferation of the history of the Roma to reveal the unknown origin of this historical and cultural community. Accordingly, in the interwar period, the Roma leaders claimed through public request the promotion of a “non-minority” autochthonous status for the Roma community on the Romanian territory.

Annemarie Sorescu-Marinković, Thede Kahl, and Biljana Sikimić, eds. Boyash Studies: Researching “Our People”

Annemarie Sorescu-Marinković, Thede Kahl, and Biljana Sikimić, eds. <i>Boyash Studies: Researching “Our People”</i>

Mnemonic wars and parallel polis: The anti-politics of memory in Central and Southeast Europe: Kosovar women and Black/Roma Lives Matter

The essay argues that anti-politics, a category borrowed from the anti-communist movement in the Eastern Bloc, can inspire memory studies. We focus on one of the chosen categories – the parallel polis (with some forays into the matter of the nonviolence movement). We discuss this universal category through the particular lens of Central and Southeast Europe with two examples: (1) women’s memories of war and violence in Kosovo with a specific focus on the Heroinat monument in Pristina and (2) the Black Lives Matter movement in Czechia that can be used to highlight the racially and ethnically motivated activities of the police, as well as oblivion of the Holocaust of the Roma community in mainstream discourse. It all leads to the identification of parallel orders of memory produced by marginalized groups, as well as the development of anti-politics of memory in opposition to the official, state-driven politics of memory.

The survey of soil-transmitted helminth species abundance in Slovakia with an emphasis on parameters important for their distribution.

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) can be easily dispensable in socially disadvantaged groups. The Roma people represent the group most at risk in Slovakia. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of STH infections in minorities living with animals under low hygienic conditions and on contaminated soil. Subsequently, we identified the risk assessment factors of the STH transmissions based on parasitological results. In our study, STHs were predominantly found among the Roma communities living in unsanitary conditions. The prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides among the majority was 0.79%, and Trichuris trichiura was 0.05 %. On the contrary, a community-based cross-sectional survey across eastern Slovakia also found a prevalence of 22.28 and 3.47% for A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura among the Roma population. Inhabitants that belong to the Roma minority had a 37.12 infection OR times higher than non-Roma inhabitants. The Roma people living in the countryside have a 2.23-fold higher chance of getting infected with STH than Roma living in the city. Therefore, soil and domestic animals were also examined for the presence of the STH eggs to show the environmental burden. In general, the presence of STH eggs was confirmed in 26.26% of the soil examined samples. The detailed description is as follows: eggs of Toxocara spp., Trichuris spp., eggs from the family Ancylostomatidae, and Toxascaris leonina. Ascaris eggs were detected only in the soil from localities with low hygienic standards. The probability of contracting the STH eggs in segregated settlements was 15.94 times higher compared to urban or rural areas. In addition to humans, dogs can also be a source of STH eggs in the soil. The STH eggs were confirmed in 43.55% of dog droppings. The most interesting finding was that the eggs of the genus Ascaris were up to 7.93% of dog droppings from localities with a low hygienic standard were positive. This study revealed that climatic factors and the WASH conditions influenced the distribution of STHs to variable degrees. In addition, ethnicity and sanitation were crucial factors in the distribution of STH infection in eastern Slovakia.

Securitization and militarized quarantine of Roma settlements during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia

ABSTRACT Recent analysis indicates that the coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately affected Roma people, amplified pre-existing exclusion, poverty, discrimination, and exposed marginalized Roma to vulnerability even more than before. This study explores the securitization and militarized quarantine of Roma settlements during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia. The study analyzes who, how and why securitized Roma communities? On what issues and for whom? With what result and under what conditions? The result of securitization, i.e. militarized quarantine of six Roma settlements is investigated in terms of legality, necessity, proportionality, and temporariness. The topic is approached from the perspective of political science. The study deploys a new institutionalism approach, securitization as an analytical frame, and qualitative research design. This includes a case study, elite interviews, and qualitative content analysis. The study concludes that, in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia, securitization took place instead of right-based discourse and a humanitarian approach towards the most vulnerable and socially excluded MRCs. Slovakia deployed heavily securitized responses towards Roma, targeting them selectively and collectively with anti-corona measures. Residents of six Roma settlements were exposed to the discrimination and most restrictive measures that the rest of the population did not face.

A Retrospective Assessment of Laboratory Findings and Cytokine Markers in Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Patients of Roma Population.

Growing research data suggests that the severity of COVID-19 is linked with higher levels of inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines, chemokines, tumor necrosis factor, C-reactive protein, ferritin, and D-dimers. In addition, it was evident from the existing research data that the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection differs according to independent risk factors such as race and ethnicity. Some scarce evidence shows that the European Roma community is likely to be at an elevated risk of illness and death during the pandemic due to their lifestyle, social factors, and economics. Assuming that precautions must be taken to protect this population from coronavirus infections and from widening existing disparities in comparison with the Romanian ethnic population, the current study aimed to observe the clinical evolution of the Roma patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in correlation with the laboratory findings and inflammatory markers involved. After calculating the sample size requirements, we included 83 Roma patients admitted to the hospital with severe COVID-19 and 236 patients of Romanian ethnicity with the same inclusion criteria. Patients were selected from the period stretching from March 2020 to December 2021, before COVID-19 vaccines were introduced. Compared with the general population, the Roma patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection had a higher unemployment rate (39.8%), and most of them were residing in rural regions (65.4%). There were significantly more overweight patients in the Roma group than in the control group (57.8% vs. 40.7%), and it was also observed that high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus were significantly more prevalent in the Roma patients. They had significantly longer mean duration of hospitalization was significantly longer in the group of Roma patients (18.1 days vs. 16.3 days). IL-6 and CRP levels were significantly more elevated during admission in the group of Roma patients (43.4% vs. 28.4%); however, IL-6 levels normalized at discharge, but ESR remained high. Although ICU admissions were significantly more frequent in this group, the mortality rate was not significantly higher than in the general population. It is necessary to plan different healthcare strategies aimed at special populations, such as the Roma ethnicity to prevent disparities in negative outcomes reflected in this study. The results imply that community-health collaborations between organizations of minority groups and healthcare professionals can mitigate the disproportionate consequences of the pandemic on Roma.

Tensions between norms of everyday narrating and legal narrating

AbstractContemporary asylum laws challenge the narratives of migrants and legal professional teams. Struggles arise in requirements to tell the right story defined by legal norms while storytelling in everyday life relies on sociocultural norms. Professionals working with socially and legally vulnerable populations, as in education and asylum cases, can bridge that gap if we understand narrating as a relational process with credibility and coherence developing over time in terms of the clients’ experience and institutional expectations. This paper presents dynamic storytelling methodology to guide such a process, applied successfully with a Roma community seeking inclusion in public education and used to interpret two unsuccessful asylum cases. Drawing on those examples, we conclude by proposing a socio-legal framework for collaborative lawyering in research on clinical legal training. The goal is a narrative process based on legal actors’ awareness that truth acquisition is a human sense-making process framed by human rights norms.

Who were the Roma victims of the Nazis? A case study of Estonia

ABSTRACT This article documents the mass murder of the Roma community in Nazi-occupied Estonia. Using the statistical data assembled by the police, it paints a collective picture of the minority destroyed.

Health Status and Self-Perception of Health in Czech Roma Community

Abstract Background The Roma population is reported to have a lower life expectancy in several European countries. The reasons for this are not well described, which limits the development of effective health promotion programs. This report investigates some possible reasons: self-perception of health risks and discrimination in a sample of Czech Roma. The study is a part of a complex health awareness program. Methods This is a pilot descriptive, cross-sectional survey conducted in Brno, Czech Republic in March 2022. Respondents were identified by community gatekeepers using quotas of gender and education. Data on disease incidence, lifestyle, attitudes to health care and risk perception were collected. Results In the sample of 30 participants, 60% were female, average age 42±5, 60% primary education. 57% daily smokers, with an average 17 cigarettes daily during 18 years. 35% had 1 chronic disease, another 38% had 2 and more. The most prevalent diseases were hypertension (43%) and obesity (41%). 60% of respondents with hypertension as compared to 23% without hypertension considered their stroke risk as medium. 43% smokers as compared to 21% non-smokers consider their risk of COPD as medium (for lung cancer 41% vs. 0%). Roma report not visiting a doctor due to a lack of time (33%), expecting the problem to resolve itself (33%), long waiting time (33%), but not discrimination (0%). Conclusions The Roma with risk factors correctly identify their risk of stroke, COPD, lung cancer as higher. None of them feel discriminated from physicians, but they limit contact with them due to other reasons. It appears that the prevalence of risk factors is higher in the Roma when compared to Caucasians based on the European Health Interview Survey (16% female, 31% male hypertension; 14% female, 29% male obesity). Self-perception of health and feeling of discrimination in Roma communities should be taken into account when designing health interventions. Key messages

Assessment of needs-based usefulness of interventions to address system barriers to HPV vaccination

Abstract Background Adolescents of underserved communities face multiple health system barriers to access HPV vaccination. The Horizon 2020 project RIVER-EU will implement interventions to address these barriers in the migrant community in Greece, the Turkish and Moroccan communities in the Netherlands, the Ukrainian community in Poland and the Roma community in Slovakia. The objective of this study was to identify promising evidence-based interventions that potentially meet the specific contextual needs of the target groups, as a basis for assessing their transferability. Methods Based on the PIET-T models of transferability, we developed a methodology to assess the needs-based usefulness of an intervention for a target context. Criteria of intervention usefulness addressed specific aspects of the health issue, population, intervention content, outcomes, up-to-datedness, applicability, quality and usefulness of the evidence-base. Guided by methodological workshops, country members with their local advisory boards performed a rating of 32 interventions identified from a systematic literature search. Results Through independent assessment in each country, 5 of 32 interventions were selected as useful, with overlap: 2 interventions were selected by all countries, and 1 by 2 countries. In all countries, trained community members to support HPV vaccination were seen as promising. In Greece and the Netherlands, an educational programme in schools was included. Further, the Netherlands chose an intervention addressing providers’ HPV vaccine communication, and Slovakia a multilevel intervention. Discussion The feedback of the country members on the assessment emphasised the structured way to face complexity of understanding the potential usefulness of an intervention from the perspective of the target country. Critical discussions on the interventions enabled to specify needs for further clarification, for adaptations, and alternatives to consider for transferability analyses. Key messages

Higher VTE in a Roma population attributed to raised genetic risk and gene-environmental interaction

Abstract Background Interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors (GxE) contribute to an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Understanding how these factors interact provides insight for the early identification of at-risk groups within a population and creates an opportunity to apply appropriate preventive and curative measures. Objective To estimate and compare GxE for VTE risk in the general Hungarian and Roma populations. Methods The study was based on data extracted from a database consisting the results obtained previously in a three pillars complex health survey. DNA was genotyped for rs121909567 (SERPINC1), rs1799963 (F2), rs2036914 (F11), rs2066865 (FGG), rs6025 (F5), and rs8176719 (ABO) polymorphisms. Multivariable linear regression analysis was applied to test the impact of GxE on VTE risk. Results Interestingly, the rs121909567 (SERPINC1) SNP was not present in the general population, however the risk allele frequency was 1.4% among Roma, which might suggest a founder effect in this minority. The risk of VTE was higher among depressive Roma subjects who carried the risk variant of rs2036914 (β = 0.819, p = 0.02); however, not for the general subjects. The joint presence of high level of LDL-C and rs2066865 increased the VTE risk only among Roma (β = 0.389, p = 0.002). A multiplicative interaction between rs8176719 and cancer was identified and higher for the Roma population (β = 0.370, p &amp;lt; 0.001). The VTE risk increased in the Roma population (β = 0.280, p = 0.001) but was higher in the general population (β = 0.423, p = 0.001) as a result of the multiplicative interaction between CAD and rs2036914 (F11). Conclusions rs121909567 (SERPINC1) was confirmed as a founder mutation in the Roma population. As a result of higher genetic load and GxE interactions, the minority Roma population is at higher risk of VTE than the general Hungarian population. Key messages • Our study revealed some evidence on the burden of the joint presence of genetic and environmental risk factors on VTE. • A marginalized and segregated Roma community could need due attention for the prevention and control of CVDs.

Health system barriers to HPV vaccination in marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia

Abstract Background People from marginalized Roma communities often experience poverty, limited access to education, employment, housing, and health care (HC). The aim of the study was to explore the perceptions of people from marginalized Roma communities and health professionals regarding health system (HS) barriers to HPV vaccination. Methods A qualitative study was conducted in the Kosice region as a part of the RIVER-EU project. Semi-structured interviews with marginalized Roma parents (N = 18), children (N = 15), and health professionals (N = 18) were audio-recorded and thematic analysis of the transcripts was performed in MAXQDA. Findings Four main themes were identified regarding HS barriers: 1. Lack of information (lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate information, lack of information provision from HC providers, unreliable and conflicting information on the internet), 2. Restricted access to HC providers (lack of capacities, work overload, long wait in the waiting room, distance, traffic connection), 3. Financial and organizational barriers (limited coverage of vaccination expenses from health insurance, picking up prescribed vaccines in a pharmacy by parents, parental consent), 4. Attitudes and behaviours of HC providers (neglect of care, double standard, inappropriate behaviour and communication, prejudices, racism). Conclusions The reasoning and perception of several barriers to HPV vaccination differ among groups of respondents. Nevertheless, HPV is not viewed as a priority by both - marginalized Roma and health professionals. HS fails to reach marginalized Roma with appropriate information about HPV and HPV vaccination. Moreover, the lack of capacities and motivation of HC providers to address these topics lead to a lack of awareness. Organization and health insurance coverage of vaccination pose additional barriers to HPV vaccination.