Gender-based violence in Roma communities and the response of healthcare professionals

Violence against women is an extreme manifestation of gender inequality in society and a severe human rights violation. Although domestic violence occurs in all social groups, women from ethnic minorities are particularly vulnerable due to their frequent exposure to intersectional discrimination. For Roma women subjected to domestic violence, health-care professionals are frequently the only point of contact with public services that could offer them support and information. Communication and coordination between the women exposed to domestic violence and healthcare professionals are often not satisfactory. The objective of this research was to identify barriers to healthcare services access in cases of domestic violence against Roma women, from the point of view of healthcare staff and from the point of view of Roma community members, with a view to compare the two perspectives. The study was conducted as a project activity of the Serbian-Roma citizens' association "Integrativni Global Centar" Kragujevac, entitled "Building trust -together against violence" which was supported by the Office of the Minister without Portfolio in charge of coordinating activities in the field of gender equality, preventing violence against women and economic and political empowerment of women in the Republic of Serbia. The study was performed using an anonymous survey of 60 Roma women and 60 healthcare workers from the City of Kragujevac, using random sampling, in the period from 15 December 2024 to 15 February 2025. Of the surveyed Roma women, 55% had been exposed to domestic violence, while 33.3% had suffered partner violence. The overwhelming majority of healthcare workers (93.5%) had not received any training on the skills of communicating with Roma community members and response in case of domestic violence, while 22.7% believe that there is not enough awareness of this issue. Prevention of violence against women in different forms should be a public health priority.