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ARE WOMEN’S FUNDS FOR ALL WOMEN? Critical analysis of mainstream feminist funds in relation to Romani women’s agenda
By: Manuela Demir Kariman
Abstract
There is little doubt that Romani women face profound, interconnected inequalities rooted in intricate discrimination based on both gender and ethnicity. However, while the plight of Romani women has often been theorized and advocated for using terminology such as “marginalization,” “vulnerability to violence,” “poor (mis)treatment regarding health conditions,” and other injustices, the grassroots efforts of many networks, NGOs, and informal groups have demonstrated the adaptability, fortitude, potential, and leadership capabilities of Romani women. Romani feminist activism, like feminism in general as a movement, emerged as a reaction to challenge multilayered oppression and advocate for the betterment of the position of Romani women in society.
Resources are vital for the success of any social movement, as evident when examining recent examples such as the #MeToo movement or other transnational initiatives. However, the reemerging propensity to commit funds to the larger feminist cause has not translated to a similar trend in support for the Romani women’s movement specifically. Indeed, one of the most clearly articulated challenges expressed by Romani women’s organizations continues to be the lack of resources and the immense difficulties in accessing significant, uninterrupted funding for their work.
This paper seeks to explore the landscape of mainstream donors, foundations, and funding initiatives that exist to support Romani feminist priorities in Europe. At the same time, the focus of the article is driven towards a particular type of funds—those located in entities created with a mission to serve the women’s agenda. The purpose of the article is twofold: 1) to identify the most prominent funds of support (in the European context) and to 2) to analyze key patterns in funding regarding Roma women as target beneficiaries. It should be noted that the scope of the article covers only private funds from foundations/networks/initiatives that are directly targeting women’s priorities, meaning that state or inter-governmental funds are excluded from the analysis. The key question is do these funds really serve its purpose of creation if they are not beneficial to all groups of women?
Although funds are very often discussed, the article’s topic as such illuminates a largely understudied domain. It provides insight into current resources while also indicating critical shortcomings and opportunities for growth in the funding of Romani women’s empowerment. Comprehensively understanding the Romani feminist funding landscape is an intricate undertaking, not achievable through a single mapping. This crucial aspect necessitates additional exploration and critical examination to maximize its informative value to the movement.
I. Introduction
There is little doubt that Romani women face profound, interconnected inequalities rooted in intricate discrimination based on both gender and ethnicity. However, while the plight of Romani women has often been theorized and advocated for using terminology such as “marginalization,” “vulnerability to violence,” “poor (mis)treatment regarding health conditions,” and other injustices, the grassroots efforts of many networks, NGOs, and informal groups have demonstrated the adaptability, fortitude, potential, and leadership capabilities of Romani women. Romani feminist activism, like feminism in general as a movement, emerged as a reaction to challenge multilayered oppression and advocate for the betterment of the position of Romani women in society.
Resources are vital for the success of any social movement, as evident when examining recent examples such as the #MeToo movement or other transnational initiatives. However, the reemerging propensity to commit funds to the larger feminist cause has not translated to a similar trend in support for the Romani women’s movement specifically. Indeed, one of the most clearly articulated challenges expressed by Romani women’s organizations continues to be the lack of resources and the immense difficulties in accessing significant, uninterrupted funding for their work.
This paper seeks to explore the landscape of mainstream donors, foundations, and funding initiatives that exist to support Romani feminist priorities in Europe. At the same time, the focus of the article is driven towards a particular type of funds—those located in entities created with a mission to serve the women’s agenda. The purpose of the article is twofold: 1) to identify the most prominent funds of support (in the European context) and to 2) to analyze key patterns in funding regarding Roma women as target beneficiaries. It should be noted that the scope of the article covers only private funds from foundations/networks/initiatives that are directly targeting women’s priorities, meaning that state or inter-governmental funds are excluded from the analysis. The key question is do these funds really serve its purpose of creation if they are not beneficial to all groups of women?
Although funds are very often discussed, the article’s topic as such illuminates a largely understudied domain. It provides insight into current resources while also indicating critical shortcomings and opportunities for growth in the funding of Romani women’s empowerment. Comprehensively understanding the Romani feminist funding landscape is an intricate undertaking, not achievable through a single mapping. This crucial aspect necessitates additional exploration and critical examination to maximize its informative value to the movement.
Hence, the article starts with positioning the topic of Roma feminism in Europe by providing a brief overview and continues to map women’s funds across different entities and networks. Finally, from the breaking down of key insights, the article provides a critical view and recommendations for further exploration of the subject.
II. Background on Roma Feminism
While individual Romani women were active participants in political and social struggles across various European countries (e.g., Katarina Taikon in Sweden, Ágnes Daróczi in Hungary, Leticia Mark in Romania, Nadezhda Demeter in Russia), it was not until the early 1990s that the Romani women’s movement began to coalesce[1]. It was during this time that the first Romani women’s organizations emerged, initially in Spain and later throughout Central and Eastern Europe. A seminal event for European Romani women’s activism was the Primer Congreso Gitano de la Unión Europea (First Gypsy Congress of the European Union) held in Seville on May 18-21, 1994. Romani women highlighted the urgent need to address their distinct needs and interests. As an outgrowth of the youth leadership training organized by the Council of Europe’s Youth Directorate, the Forum of European Roma Young People (FERYP) was established in 1998 as the first international Romani organization spearheaded by a Romani woman, Alexandra Raykova[2].
In June 1998, the Open Society Foundations organized the First International Conference of Romani Women in Budapest in conjunction with their Roma Participation Program. This gathering sparked the launch of the first informal network of Romani women, which later transitioned into a more formal structure with horizontal collaborative leadership consisting of Nicoleta Bitu, Azbija Memedova, and Enissa Eminova in 1999[3]. The Romani Women’s Initiative (RWI) was active from 1999 to 2006. On June 29, 2003, the Roma Women’s Forum convened in Budapest, organized by the Open Society Foundations‘ Women’s Program. This forum united over 100 Romani activists, donors, international human rights advocates, and government representatives from Europe and the United States. Most recently, in September 2007, the First International Conference of Romani Women took place in Stockholm with backing from the Swedish government[4].
The Second International Conference of Romani Women took place in Athens, Greece 2010 while the third international Romani women’s conference was organized in Granada, in 2011. The next two were organized in 2015 and 2016. In this period significant individual positioning started to happen in a few countries, where prominent Roma women’s voices were voted/appointed as representatives of international, national, and local bodies of decision-making.
A more recent example of international conference is the online gathering organized by the Berlin-based organization RomaniPhen in 2019, where Roma feminists from different countries joined to share their unique work, priorities, strategies, methods, and struggles[5].
Looking at the national and local levels, in almost every European country there is a at least one registered association of Romani women, dedicated to working on improving Romani women’s lives. Additionally, the last decade has showcased the work of more progressive Romani women-led organizations such as “Gjuvlipe” (Romania), Gitanas Feministas (Spain), E-Romnja (Romania) and Feminist Collective of Romani Gender Experts, which operates internationally. These formations, and many others, led by powerful voices, set high standards in advocating for Romani women’s rights while demonstrating quality and impact.
The overview of the Romani women’s movement as such or the influence of Romnja in the Roma movement is far richer than what is briefly presented here. The advancing of the movement did not occur without obstacles, challenges, and negotiation of narratives. But at the same time, the movement shows strength, resilience, and strong sisterhood.
Looking at the movement historically, its visible that donors such as Open Society Foundations, OSCE and CoE had a pivotal role in supporting the emergence and further work of Romani women’s voices. This insight further supports the need to examine foundations that strictly work on a feminist agenda. Therefore, the following portion of the text is dedicated to mapping the question of if women’s funds are really for all women or not.
III. Major Donors, Foundations, and Funds Supporting Feminism in Europe
Access to funding represents a pivotal challenge for women’s organizations (European Union, 2016). Similar to other human rights priorities, the question of financial resources is unavoidable when examining the subject of the Romani feminist agenda. The term “donors” encompasses a complex range of potential sources and levels of support. While mapping all existing funding sources poses a highly demanding undertaking, thoroughly exploring this topic also necessitates an in-depth dedication to analyzing different actors, sources of funding, types of funding, and all interaction between the variables. It is important to highlight that the scope of this paper remains relatively confined to what is classified as “women’s funds.” The reasoning behind this choice is based on logical principles: 1) these funds are by default created for the purposes of supporting women’s groups (organizations, informal groups, networks, etc.) and 2) these funds are 100% focused on women’s priorities and have a feminist agenda.
According to an OECD report[6], women’s funds are defined as “public foundations that aim to fund women-led solutions to the root causes of social injustice. Their primary purpose is to mobilize resources to distribute to women’s rights organizations and movements, rather than implementing programs or services directly” (OECD, 2016, p.). The same report enumerates approximately 40 such entities/networks globally, including national, regional and international women’s funds, as well as those targeting specific demographic groups of women, such as the Young Feminist Fund, FRIDA, and the Indigenous Women’s Fund, FIMI[7].
The following part of the article briefly introduces the major funding entities operating in Europe. Among these, are also international-based foundations that have Europe as a strategic geographical area. The analysis intentionally focuses on the mission that they promote, the strategic priorities, and if a specific group of women are prioritized as beneficiaries.
Prospera Network: In the year 2000, six women’s funds spanning Latin America, Asia, Europe and the United States decided to create a centralized entity. The goal was to give all women’s funds, from large established ones to smaller emerging funds in the Global South, greater opportunities to collaborate and draw support. This would empower them to heighten and expand their impact. As a result, the International Network of Women’s Funds was founded that year. Since then, Prospera has aided its members in developing and increasing their capacity to fund and serve women’s and girls’ rights groups in the Global South. Over time, Prospera has transformed from a peer-learning forum into a more structured, membership-driven organization providing services. Currently, Prospera unites 47 women’s and feminist funds. Collectively, these members donate grants to over 172 countries worldwide[8].
Women’s Funds Europe (WFE) operates as the European division of Prospera, which is the International Network of Women’s Funds. WFE represents a coalition of 13 women-centered funds based across 11 European countries. These funds are led by and meant to serve women, girls, trans individuals, intersex individuals, non-binary individuals, and others in all of their diversity. In 2020 alone, WFE’s member organizations mobilized €29 million in funding across 76 different countries. This funding provided grants to various organizations and activist initiatives dedicated to promoting gender equality and strengthening women’s rights groups and movements within Europe as well as globally.
Mama Cash is a pioneering women’s fund based in the Netherlands that supports women’s, girls’, trans, and intersex people’s rights organizations globally. Established in 1983, Mama Cash was the first grantmaking foundation in the world to specifically finance women’s organizations[9]. In 2020[10], Mama Cash distributed €5,559,844 in grants to 195 organizations across 65 countries. Using a participatory grantmaking approach, Mama Cash centers the voices of activists in determining funding priorities and strategies. As a pioneer in women’s organizing and financing for nearly 40 years, Mama Cash serves as a model for gender justice philanthropy. Their grantee-centered approach, intersectional analysis, and commitment to funding risky, under-supported organizations exemplifies feminist funding principles. Mama Cash’s leadership continues to shape the global landscape of women’s and girl’s philanthropy. In the past, Mama Cash provided support to the Roma Women Association in Macedonia and the Romedia Foundation in Hungary, thus demonstrating that they have funded Romani women’s groups. While Romani women’s organizations are included in Mama Cash’s overall grantee portfolio, they do not release a comprehensive list of all groups funded. Therefore, although Mama Cash does not have a designated Romani women’s funding initiative, they have steadily supported both local Romani women’s entities and Europe-wide Romani advocacy networks. Given their intersectional methodology, Romani women’s concerns are likely integrated into their broader funding agenda too. However, the totals granted seem relatively small compared to Mama Cash’s total philanthropic giving.
The Global Fund for Women is an international nonprofit foundation dedicated to advancing gender equality and women’s human rights worldwide. Founded in 1987 by Anne Firth Murray, it was one of the first public foundations focused exclusively on women’s rights philanthropy. Headquartered in San Francisco, California with offices across four continents, Global Fund for Women creates grants totaling around $9 million annually to support women-led groups and movements. Since its inception, it has awarded over $131 million in grants to 5,000 women’s organizations in 175 countries[11].
Global Fund for Women utilizes a feminist funding approach centered on flexibility, accessibility, participation and multi-year core support. Grants focus on crucial issues defined by their partners, like bodily autonomy, climate justice, conflict resolution and gender-based violence. Based on the information available on the website, the foundation has provided support to few Roma organizations over the years. This includes grants to the Roma Women’s Association in North Macedonia, the ANGEL Roma Women’s Center in Serbia, and Romedia Foundation in Hungary among others. In 2020, they granted $20,000 to the Roma Women Fund in Bosnia, which funds Romani women’s projects locally. Global Fund for Women commissioned a report in 2018 focused specifically on the barriers facing Romani women activists in Europe[12]. This examined challenges accessing resources and recommended steps funders should take to better support Romani women. While not having a specific Romani women’s funding program, Global Fund for Women integrates support for Romani women’s organizations into its broader gender equality grantmaking as part of its intersectional approach. In more recent years, the Global Fund for Women has partnered with the FRIDA young feminist fund to launch an intersectional initiative called FRIDA GLOW. This collaborative effort brought together young Roma activists from across Eastern Europe for peer learning and targeted re-granting related to advancing bodily autonomy of Roma women and girls.
Filia Die Frauenstiftung is a women’s foundation based in Germany that supports projects benefitting women and girls across local, national, and international spheres. Established in 2000, the foundation awards around €500,000 annually in grants aimed at promoting women’s and girl’s rights, offering equal opportunities, and advancing gender democracy.
The foundation provides project-based funding to non-profit women’s rights initiatives in focus areas like political participation, migrant women’s empowerment, work-life balance, ending violence against women, sexual diversity, and women’s health and wellbeing. In addition to grant making, Filia engages in specialized women’s funding advocacy activities through its membership in the European Women’s Funding Network and through initiatives like Fund for Women and Girls in Germany advocating for increased institutional support for women’s projects. Filia also manages a unique “Stifterinnen” model enabling individual supporters to open personal named funds within the foundation to sustain their own philanthropy objectives[13]. Based on the latest annual reports for the period of five years, there is no visible track record of supporting Roma (Sinti) women’s organizations.
The Young Feminist Fund, or FRIDA, was created in 2010 as the first youth-led fund focused exclusively on supporting young feminist activism globally. FRIDA provides grants and capacity building support to youth-led groups working at the grassroots level to advance social justice, especially organizations led by women, girls, trans individuals, and non-binary youth of color in the Global South. Since its founding, FRIDA has awarded over $4.1 million in small grants to over 800 groups across 125 different countries[14]. FRIDA utilizes a participatory decision-making model that centers young activists in determining funding priorities and strategies. They also offer holistic core support beyond just grants, like mentorship, leadership development programs, networking and alliance building platforms. The fund is among the few foundations that prioritize space for Romani women’s issues. It recently published a detailed transnational research study named “Tales of Roma Women’s Resistance” written by Suzzane Usein[15]. Over the last 5 years, FRIDA has provided small grants to a few Romani women’s organizations.
The list of women’s funds is broader and includes many more private foundations, networks and associations registered as grant-making entities. However, most of these big entities operating in Europe are part of the Prospera Network (which is mentioned first in the text), and their work has been analyzed indirectly through the network’s reports. Finally, another portion of foundations are not mentioned due to their small-sized operations and lack of history of involvement with the Romani women’s agenda.
IV. Critical View
Funds are crucial for successful operation in any field. What are global numbers and trends saying on the subject? Although there is no specific reference to Romani women, I will provide some relevant highlights from global trends and numbers from the report “Where is the money for feminist organizing?”[16] published by the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID). Based on the findings, only 48% of women’s rights and feminist organizations from the Global South seeking funding from Global Fund for Women report annual budgets under $30,000 USD. Only 6% have budgets over $300,000. Also, women’s rights organizations receive only 0.13% of total Official Development Assistance (ODA) and 0.4% of all gender-related aid. Additionally, of the $1.5 trillion USD in foundation assets globally, only $1.14 billion goes to human rights grants. Of that, women’s rights grants are just $422.3 million, or 0.42% of total foundation grants. The report argues that despite stated commitments to gender equality, over 99% of resources are not reaching women’s rights and feminist movements, especially in the Global South. It calls for a shift in power dynamics and bold action to direct more funding to grassroots feminist organizing.
These numbers are also important for Roma. Donors could apply the report’s recommendations on shifting power and resources to ensure Roma women’s groups have the funding they need to thrive and drive change. The report shows that groups working at intersecting oppressions, like indigenous women and young feminists, receive even less funding and face more barriers to institutional support. Roma women experience multiple intersecting inequalities based on gender, ethnicity, and economic status. Their issues are often overlooked and under-resourced. Mainstream women’s rights organizations may not fully represent the unique needs and perspectives of Roma women. In summary, even without specific mention, the report’s analysis underscores the importance of funders prioritizing support for un/defunded groups like Roma women organizing at the intersection of multiple oppressions.
The most recent source of information regarding challenges for funding opportunities on Roma women’s issues is the study published by FRIDA. The reports highlight several key challenges identified by the Romani women organizations who participated in the study. The challenges are the following[17]:
- Lack of core, flexible, and long-term funding to support organizational growth and stability.
- Project-based funding often doesn’t cover core costs like staff, office space, and organizational development.
- It’s difficult for new/young groups to access major funding without a track record. Established groups are favored.
- Informal collectives often can’t receive funding if they are not legally registered organizations.
- Language barriers in applying for and reporting on grants.
- The lack of funding for core support services like legal aid and social assistance needed by communities.
- Rural grassroots groups are less visible and so it is harder to access funding.
- The need for fellowships and paid opportunities for young Roma women to gain skills.
The lack of core, flexible funding is an acute barrier for Romani groups, with most financing restricted to specific projects. Mainstream feminist organizations have more access to unrestricted funding for core costs. For example, in their 2020 Report, Prospera[18] found that 60% of the EU’s major gender equality foundations provide core cost support. Established mainstream groups also attract more long-term support, while funders are less likely to support informal Romani collectives lacking legal status. It is not a surprising insight that Romani women are underrepresented even within the mainstream feminist spaces. The report by Global Fund for Women[19] showed that 42% of Romani women activists feel ignored or excluded from broader gender equality organizing. In contrast, mainstream feminist groups are more likely to participate in leadership, dominate platforms, and receive vocal support from women’s funds and policymakers. Romani women’s perspectives are often left out when setting funding priorities and agendas for mainstream gender activism.
Even with an extensive search across the websites, annual reports, and other publicly available materials of the major women’s funds like Prospera, Mama Cash, FRIDA or Global Fund, a specific data quantifying the total amount of grants to Roma women’s organizations/initiatives is not easily gathered. The reasons for not locating definitive numbers are related to the sensitivity of the topic and the confidential principle of such foundations, the lack of disaggregated data by ethnicity or ethnic benefiting group, and finally due to the common practice of such major foundations of re-granting regional partners to direct its support to local needs.
However, even with no extensive public data available, it is not an unknown fact that support dedicated specifically and exclusively to Roma women’s NGOs in Europe appears extremely minimal and likely makes up a very small fraction of total grantmaking. For example, in their 2020 annual report[20], Mama Cash highlights a €50,000 grant to the Roma Women’s Fund in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which supports Romani women activists locally. Also, between 2017-2020, Mama Cash funded the European Roma Grassroots Organizations Network (ERGO Network, connecting Roman women’s groups across Europe) with over €400,000 in grants. In 2016-2017, Mama Cash gave a €125,000 grant to the European Roma Rights Centre, which conducts advocacy on Romani women’s issues. In 2019[21], E-Romnja (The Association to Promote Roma Women’s Rights) from Romania was granted €30,000 from the same foundation. Similar examples are Rromnjako Ilo in Serbia and Gitanas Feministas in Spain.
In summary, while various major women’s foundations likely have provided small grants to Roma women-centered causes in Europe periodically in recent years via interrelated programs, the exact amounts and numbers are not specifically reported in publicly accessible documentation.
Besides funds, which are a crucial aspect, another interesting element is the strategy of these networks/foundations. Clearly, funds are distributed according to an overall strategy and certain priorities linked to the organization’s mission. Looking at the strategic goals and priorities of the listed foundations, Roma women are not an explicit target, but are rather considered as part of a broader group category of women, which is not the case for the African-American women in USA or indigenous women in Canada and Latin America. In none of the women’s foundations can a defined strategy of prioritizing Romani women be found. An interesting observation is that even if multilayered oppression or belonging to minority groups is defined as a strategic area of work, Romani women are not explicitly mentioned as part of such category. If this is the case at the level of strategic priorities/programs, it is even more impossible to expect a separated strategy dedicated only to women belonging to minority groupswho are in a less advantageous position than those women who belong to dominant cultural groups.
V. Conclusion
An analysis of some of the major women’s funds and philanthropic foundations in Europe demonstrates a lack of targeted engagement with and strategic prioritization of Romani women’s organizations. While some funds may boast egalitarian policies, the agendas of Romani women are frequently overlooked and under-resourced in practice. There appears to be no coherent strategy to actively encourage applications or provide support for Roma women’s groups seeking funding opportunities. For instance, since 2020 the Filia Die Frauenstiftung Foundation has instituted defined initiatives targeting refugee women, including the creation of an advisory board focused on allocating grants for this demographic. Unsurprisingly, it seems that Romani women’s organizations still being supported predominantly by the same actors as at the beginning of the movement (CoE, OSF, OSCE). In some rare examples, such as in Germany, organizations receive state support as well.
In the case of mainstream feminist funds, even in situations where the advancement of Roma women constitutes an area of active investment, the resultant financial support rarely exceeds the provision for a single organization or network. Several factors may contribute to this deficient level of funding:
- Mainstream women’s funds rely heavily on referral pipelines and professional networks that typically exclude Romani women’s associations, thereby perpetuating isolation.
- Language barriers and the lack of culturally responsive application procedures prevent Romani groups’ engagement with and awareness of funding possibilities.
- Well-intentioned assumptions regarding capacity and eligibility criteria inadvertently disqualify Roma groups from consideration.
- Roma women’s concerns are peripheral to dominant feminist discourse, leading funders to discount their unique challenges.
Women-focused philanthropies aspiring towards diversity must reassess their current conventions and practices to guarantee equitable Romani women’s incorporation. This necessitates deliberate outreach efforts, adjusted eligibility criteria, multilingual application materials, and directly consulting Romani women in strategy development. Romani feminists’ perspectives on and visions for social progress warrant greater investment. Expanding financial support for Romani women’s advocacy constitutes an imperative for advancing both gender and racial equity.
Promoting Romani women’s empowerment and self-determination should constitute a priority for any foundation mandated to and invested in progressing women’s rights. True inclusion requires dismantling barriers and proactively engendering access for populations facing compound marginalization. This will catalyze more just and transformative outcomes. Funders have an ethical obligation to implement more equitable procedures and meaningfully integrate Romani women’s groups into grantmaking apparatus. Anything less undercuts the foundational values of diversity, gender equality, and social justice.
VI. Moving forward
Indeed, funds are crucial to maintain movement, network, or even to organize on a small scale. Until now, most of the existing Roma women formations have been surviving through small, short-term project- based funding, usually supported by Open Society Foundations, Council of Europe and OSCE. However, with the constantly changing environment imposing challenges on a higher level, it becomes a rather brutal competition between “priorities” instead of building something impactful at any level. On the other hand, the mainstream feminist space is also changing and accommodating new trends in order to maintain its relevance in the eyes of major donors. This impasse begs the question of how to move forward.
Difficult times require being more vocal by calling upon major mainstream women’s funds to directly channel resources into bold participatory grantmaking funds governed by Romani women community members. These democratized funding streams actively counteract systemic discrimination by directing decision-making power into our hands—the exact hands that judiciously steward resources to empower our communities against tremendous odds. Even if autonomous Romani-women led financing and collective organizing is taking place outside of establishment funding structures, the transformative potential of radically shifting existing mainstream grantmaking itself should be recognized. Thus, this article calls on women’s foundations to expand the models of grantmaking they validate and its operating processes (opening application and selection processes). Rather than permitting persistent exclusion, Romani feminist activists could develop radical new financing vehicles to fund their autonomous activism through membership fees, creative fundraising alternatives inside the community, and using community-based resources.
Shifting towards a political agenda. While addressing entrenched issues like reproductive justice and gender-based violence holds vital urgency, Romani women’s groups would benefit substantially from augmenting an expanded structural empowerment agenda, prioritizing political mobilization and representation. Without diminishing acute funding needs to combat immediate threats, a persuasive evidence-based case exists for Romani women activists and funders alike to invest greater resources toward dismantling root drivers of oppression via electoral organizing, voter engagement initiatives, and youth civic leadership development programs. Politically enfranchising and building representative Romani feminist power constitutes imperative, complementary work for both remedying policy blind spots underpinning unmet needs and tackling discriminatory attitudes that inhibit mainstream adoption of comprehensive solutions. Multiple studies demonstrate that increased Romani women’s political leadership correlates not only to communities reporting reduced discrimination, but also to the passage of more inclusive policies supporting social assistance access and anti-violence protections. Without ceding urgent service and advocacy demands, channeling additional funding focus toward durable drivers of power—through voter engagement and leadership development—promises a substantially expedited diminishing of unacceptable inequities via the policy reform that only representation reliably compels.
After all, it is one movement. The difficult realities of funding opportunities for Roma women networks are not isolated from the overall challenges faced by Roma activists. Unquestionably, Romani women’s organizing cannot be severed from the broader Roma liberation movement, as some priorities fundamentally align and fates are indelibly intertwined. Pursuing an insular, separate women’s movement instead risks further sidelining the unique concerns of the Roma community. Thus, Roma feminism can operate as the driving engine for systemic change within grassroots Roma activism itself. Extensive research shows that when women, and especially historically excluded minority women, obtain meaningful leadership roles within social movements, policy gains accelerate exponentially. The compounded discrimination facing Roma women equips us with an incisive intersectional analysis regarding requisite reforms; our vantage point at this epicenter of oppression situates Romani feminists to envision and implement structural transformation most effectively. Hence growing Romani women’s decision-making authority ought not be perceived as detracting from a singular movement, but rather, strengthening the movement’s directionality, impact, and wins by those experiencing barriers most intensely.
Indeed, an underexplored strength persists in cultural solidarity organizing and mutual aid among the Roma community—modes of “informal” support too often dismissed by institutional philanthropy as lacking sophistication. By marrying tight-knit grassroots mobilization in Roma enclaves with the platform to project such activism onto a broader societal stage, an unstoppable force emerges. The combination of insider community ties with externally directed advocacy proves potent. Progressing both Roma and Romani women’s equity goals obliges acknowledging our shared fate in dismantling racism and sexism, such that Romani women’s central positioning within the wider Roma campaign structure ceases to be a question. Our role at the helm follows logically, given empirics demonstrating how women’s leadership elevates movements. Through urgently putting Romani feminists into decision-making seats at tables and constructing our own tables rooted in cultural tradition, we lay the foundation for a visibility-enhanced Roma network equipped to compel action towards securing overdue justice.
Manuela Demir Kariman is a Roma researcher and activist, passionate for bringing intersectional lens to evidence-based approaches. As a Roma woman, Manuela grounds her perspective in the realities and potential of her community. She completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in political science at Central European University, specializing in political research methodology and social analysis. Currently undertakes certification delivered by University La Sorbonne-Paris as Data Analyst.
Except her research work, Manuela is especially proud of her extensive grassroots organizing experience with Roma communities on nonpartisan get-out-the-vote campaigns across North Macedonia. As someone who in the last 5 years, has worked as Learning, Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s program in North Macedonia and as Program Officer for Open Society Foundations -Roma Initiative Office in Germany, the topic of philanthropy and funding models, opportunities and institutional obstacles for Roma has a special interest in her research agenda.
Notes
[1] Mirga-Kruszelnicka, Anna & Kóczé, Angela: “Breaking the silence: Romani women’s experience in the Romani civil rights movement” article for RomaArchieve available at: https://blog.romarchive.eu/breaking-the-silence-romani-womens-experience-in-the-romani-civil-rights-movement/
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] Kóczé, Angela: “The Building Blocks of the Romani Women’s Movement in Europe” article for RomaArchive available at: https://www.romarchive.eu/en/roma-civil-rights-movement/building-blocks-romani-womens-movement-europe/
[6]OECD, 2016. “Donor support to southern women’s rights organisations” OECD Findings.
[8] https://prospera-inwf.org/our-story/
[9] https://www.mamacash.org/en/en-homepage
[10] Mama Cash Annual Report 2020, available at: https://www.mamacash.org/media/publications/mama_cash_-_annual_report_2020.pdf
[11] https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/
[13] https://www.filia-frauenstiftung.de
[14] https://youngfeministfund.org/
[15] Usein, Suzane, 2022.Tales of Roma women’s resistance. Roma womens organizing in Southeast Europe. Published by FRIDA-Young Feminist Fund. Available at: https://youngfeministfund.org/tales-of-roma-womens-resistance/
[16] Donker, Tenzin, 2021. “Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing? Data Snapshots and A Call to Action.” Published by AWID, available at: https://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/new-brief-where-money-feminist-organizing
[17] Usein, Suzane, 2022. “Tales of Roma women’s resistance. Roma womens organizing in Southeast Europe.” Published by FRIDA-Young Feminist Fund. Available at: https://youngfeministfund.org/tales-of-roma-womens-resistance/
[18] http://trends.prospera-inwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/03.04.23-Data-Report_aop.pdf
[19] “Funding for Inclusion: Women and Girls in the Roma Community” produced by the Global Fund for Women, authored by Jill O’Donnell, Marciacias S. Fidas, and Katy Love (2018)
[20] Mama Cash Annual Reports available at: https://www.mamacash.org/en/transforming-power-annual-report-2022
[21] ibid
Website Links:
Global Fund for Women https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/
Mama Cash https://www.mamacash.org/en/en-homepage
Prospera https://prospera-inwf.org/
Young Feminist Fund https://youngfeministfund.org/
Filia Frauen Stiftung https://www.filia-frauenstiftung.de