© Hannes Meier/Phuong Nguyen Thi
In connection with the EVZ-funded project Together we are stronger workshops and networking meetings were held with Romnja and Sintize who are actively involved in self-organized groups. How empowering were the networking and the dialogue on shared goals and challenges for the women involved?
It was very empowering, as the women believe it is vital to exchange views on the challenges they face. It was especially interesting to see how discussions between different generations brought out different facets of feminism. This dialogue was especially important for younger participants. For the first time, there was an opportunity to discuss issues in depth – such as representation versus racism, how freely we can speak without reproducing discrimination, and the extent to which we ourselves are entangled in structures of oppression. Questions were also raised about how seriously we take the experience of older and younger people and which kind of language best expresses our perspectives and emotions. We also discussed structural issues such as lack of funding, limited human resources, and challenges related to residency status.
The film created through the project, featuring interviews with the women involved, is due to be screened on April 11 as part of Romnja Power Month, a series of events organized by RomaniPhen e.V. What goals are you pursuing in organizing this event series? And what role does visibility play in the activism of Romnja and Sintize?
We want to build a network of mutual support and solidarity, which is essential in times like these. Our aim is to ensure visibility for underrepresented perspectives. The idea is to discuss and develop feminist positions, and we want to establish a constructive culture of debate in order to strengthen the political movement. We also want to engage with additional actors and build broader connections within civil society. Activism requires intersectional visibility, and that begins with listening. The film will finally enable women’s perspectives to take center stage.
Some of the women interviewed in the film have long been engaged in civil society, while others have only recently become active. But Sintize and Romnja have been part of the civil rights movement from the very beginning and continue to advocate against specific forms of multiple discrimination. What is the role of women in Sinti and Roma activism?
Women have always played a central role in the Roma and Sinti movements. These women are role models for younger generations – also for me personally. This should be recognized at two levels:
1.) Romnja and Sintize were already active as survivors and descendants in remembrance policy, later also in struggles for residency rights, as well as in education and cultural work. But their contributions have not enjoyed sufficient visibility.
2.) Women have often stood behind the more visible men: hunger strikes, squats, and political protests would not have been possible without the networks that provide care work, look after children, care for the elderly and the sick, and contribute to household income. Often coded as “female,” this work has sustained visible political activities but remains largely invisible and insufficiently recognized to this day. It is particularly problematic that although mainstream society has documented these political struggles, the women involved have hardly been photographed or interviewed. Within our network, many older women were involved in the major residency rights marches and protests of the 1990s, in the occupation of Dachau in 1993 and earlier in Neuengamme, in protests for the construction of the memorial in Berlin, in residency rights protests in the 2000s, and in protests against discriminatory “action plans” proposed by the Berlin Senate administration. Yet this is scarcely documented and has largely faded from historical memory.
