The Critical Role of Research in Advancing Romani’s Right to Health

As we finalize this special section on Romani People and the Right to Health, a landmark ruling on Roma health rights has just been handed down by the European Committee of Social Rights. On October 16, 2017, the committee accepted as admissible the European Roma Rights Centre’s complaint against Bulgaria alleging systemic discrimination against Romani women in maternity wards.1 The complaint details segregation, substandard and abusive maternity care, and disproportionate barriers in access to health insurance for this part of the Roma population.2 The committee’s finding advances official recognition of the intersectional discrimination affecting Romani women and girls across Europe and perhaps beyond. We use the word “perhaps” advisedly, for conclusive evidence documenting discriminatory and racist practices against Roma living on other continents is lacking, a point underlined in 2016 by Rita Izsak-Ndiaye, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on minority issues.3 Despite its significance, the Bulgarian case is not unique in Europe. A 2014 shadow report submitted to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by Romani CRISS, a Romanian Roma Rights organization, also drew attention to “the segregation of Roma patients, especially Roma women, in separate rooms” at Marie Curie Hospital in Bucharest, as well as three other locations in Romania.4 According to the report, Romani women complained about “unrenovated ... and untidy rooms; [the fact that] the nurses change the sheets very rarely; [and the fact that] babies receive treatment, such as syrups, with [already used] ... unsterilized utensils.”5 A further ex officio investigation by Romani CRISS in partnership with the Equality Body revealed the segregation of Romani children in special wards at the Marie Curie Hospital in Bucharest. This special section in Health and Human Rights Journal brings together a number of respected scholars who document unequal power relations, prejudicial practices, intersectional discrimination, and inequalities, looking at causes and suggesting remedies. While there have already been multiple efforts to document and analyze health-related human rights violations affecting Romani constituencies all over the world, the present collection of articles sheds light on new realities and provides fresh insights into how these violations can be reversed or remedied. Authors analyze anthropological, law, and policy perspectives