REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND ROMA WOMEN
IN
PROJECT PROPOSAL
1.
Research outline
The policy
research proposal on Reproductive Health
and Roma Women in Romania is integrated into the broader issue of Public Health and Roma, one of the priority
domains of the 2005-2006 International Policy Fellowship program.
The access to
reproductive health is defined and recognized by the international
community
and by the Romanian government as an important dimension of public
health.
Moreover, it talks about the process of the de
jure and de facto democratic
reform in our society (and eventually about the reproduction of the
social and
cultural mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination), but also about
the
localization of the global (including European) politics related to
this
domain. Further on it reflects the ways by which the local
(reproductive)
health policies are responding (or are failing to respond) to the
interests and
the particular conditions of the affected groups (in our case, Roma
women).
In order to
assure the democratic access to the public (health) services of all
societal
groups (regardless of their ethnicity, gender, economic condition, age,
etc.),
these policies need to be aware about the mechanisms by which social
segregation and cultural divides are transforming the Roma communities
into
underserved ones. That is why, on the one hand, my research is going to
focus
on the analysis of the current Romanian legislation and policy on
reproductive
health, defined as part of the Third National Program coordinated by
the
Ministry of Health. On the other hand – by the means of an ethnographic
research in a specific location from
Ultimately my
policy research aims to present feasible recommendations for action.
Like recommendations
related to the national legislation on reproductive health, in
particular to
the inclusion of the perspective of equal opportunities for women and
men of
different ethnicity into this legislation and into the related
policies. But
also suggestions for the improvement of the (reproductive health)
services
(theoretically) granted across the medical system and of the medical
training
on providing accessible reproductive health care services for the
underserved
Roma population. Related to the latter I am thinking about the ways by
which
this training could include an education in cultural differences.
Ultimately, through
all these I am following to have a contribution to the development of a
(reproductive)
health policy aware of ethnic differences and inequalities as produced
by the social
and cultural system, and able to overcome the effects of discrimination
in relation
to access to healthcare for Roma. At the same time my aim is to
increase the gender
awareness of Roma policies that should be conscious about the situation
of Romani
women and about all the factors, which discourage them from paying
attention to
their own (reproductive) health. My ethnographic research aims to
identify their
life conditions and cultural conceptions, but, on the base of this,
also the
ways through which they might be empowered to demand healthcare related
information
and services. Altogether my aim is to make policy recommendations that
reduce
the gaps between reproductive health policy and Roma policy, and are
conscious
about the need to build connections between gender and ethnic awareness
in
order to be able to respond to the particular situation of Romani
women.
Because the
principle of participation should underpin all public policy-making
process, I intend
to design my policy recommendations with the active participation of
those most
affected. That is why I will contact some Roma women’s organizations
from which
to learn about their activities and views on Romani women’s
reproductive health,
but also whom to consult while designing
my policy recommendations (like the Association of Roma Women in
Romania, the Association
for the Emancipation of Roma Women, the Association of Roma Women for
their Children,
and the related department of Romani Criss). I intend to communicate my
recommendations to the main actors of this field (like the Ministry of
Health,
County Health Directorates, local reproductive health care providers)
through leading
non-governmental organizations from
2.
Research
objectives
The main
objective of my proposed policy research on Reproductive
Health and Roma Women in Romania is twofold.
On the one hand
it aims to provide:
·
a critical analysis of the current Romanian
legislation on reproductive health, and
·
a critical analysis of the obstacles to reproductive
health services usage.
The comprehensive assessment
of the relevant factors that shape the state of affairs in this domain
(both in
terms of institutional practices, life conditions and personal
experiences) is
going to rely on empirical data. Empirical data will be collected on
the
related national legislation, on the reproductive health care provider
actors
across the medical system, and on the cultural conceptions and social
practices
of Romani women connected to reproductive health.
On the other hand this policy research aims to provide
recommendations for:
·
the inclusion into the related national legislation
and policy of the perspective of equal opportunities for women and men
of
different ethnicity (defined also as part of the strategy of gender
mainstreaming recommended by the European Union to
·
the improvement of the reproductive health care
services provided across the medical system in order to assure the full
and
real access of women to these services, regardless of their ethnicity
and
economic conditions (this includes the identification of strategies for
strengthening the medical training on assuring accessible reproductive
health
care services for the underserved Roma population).
3.
Research
methodology
Viewed in a broad
framework, the access to reproductive health and the obstacles of the
reproductive health services usage depend on many factors. This issue
is
related to many social and economic problems encountered by the Roma
population
in
My research aims
to grasp the inter-relatedness of these phenomena. That is why it has
to be
shaped by a multidisciplinary approach and to be fulfilled by the means
of different
empirical research methods. It has to be mentioned that – through the
means of
a qualitative investigation – I am going to focus only on some
dimensions of
reproductive health, first of all on family planning, abortion and pre-
and
post-natal care. But – mainly through figures – I am also planning to
give an
overview on the illnesses of the reproductive organs (like genital
cancer) and
on maternal mortality.
The investigation
of the national legislation on reproductive health consists of the
analysis of
the terms by which the issue is defined, of the principles that guide
the
underlying conception, of the recognized and neglected aspects of the
problem,
and of the type of the discourse that shapes and controls the whole
approach.
But it also has to highlight its processual and political character,
viewed in
the context of the post-socialist
The analysis of
the medical system through which reproductive health services are
offered (its
structural barriers and hidden racism) consists of a qualitative case
study
done in Hunedoara county,
In order to
identify the life conditions of Roma women, their cultural conceptions
about
and social practices related to their bodies, gender relations,
childcare,
abortion, contraception and medical system I will make an ethnographic
study at
the location mentioned above. Again, I have already collected several
interviews there, but planning to return and make more in order to have
a look
on the diversity of women’s experiences rooted also in the diverse
conditions
of the different Roma communities from this area. Generally speaking,
they are
living or in segregated communities or in blocks of fats without water,
sanitation and electricity in the cities of Orastie and Geoagiu, or on
the
precarious margins of the neighboring villages. But there are
differences among
them as far as the maintenance of the Roma traditions are considered
(out of
which some are discriminatory against women), or as far as religious
beliefs,
or access to political participation, or other factors are taken into
consideration. The majority of Romani people from that region do not
speak the Romani
language (they are called “băieşi”). In
order to facilitate my access to the “corturari”,
whom do speak Romani, I am planning to cooperate with students knowing
their
language. Briefly put the analysis of these interviews aims to identify
the
obstacles of reproductive health services usage rooted in the life
conditions,
cultural conceptions and social practices of Roma women. The
consultation of the
background ethnographic literature and of relevant reports and studies
is also
among my aims. These emphasize that Romani women forego attention to
personal
wellbeing and tend to regard health services as generally inapplicable
or
unavailable to them. At the same time, in the context of unequal gender
relations Roma women feel little power to choose when, with whom and
with what
form of protection, if any, to have sex. The custom of early marriage
and of childbearing
at a young age, but also the tradition of abortion linked to the fear
of using
contraception, or maybe generally of doctors and medical institutions
put further
barriers to Roma women’s health care.
The
case study done within the mentioned particular location through the
means of a
qualitative inquiry it is not supposed to be representative as a
sociological
survey would be. But it should be noticed that in that territory one
may
encounter diverse Roma communities both in the urban and rural area,
and out of
the large number of interviews (approximately 100) one may be able to
identify
and describe in details different patterns of attitudes, conceptions,
practices. This makes me to affirm that this concrete case study might
have a
broader relevance that transcends the geographical boundaries of the
region. It
has the potential of being used as a source out of which some important
recommendations might be made regarding Roma women’s reproductive
health in
Romania.
4.
Procedures for fulfilling the
project
The support of
the International Policy Fellowship program (both in terms of financial
assistance and of the provided contacts across the professional policy
networks
and opportunities) would facilitate the fulfillment of the goals of the
planned
empirical research, of the critical analysis and of defining feasible
recommendations.
In the
perspective of a possible cooperation I was already contacting the Cluj
regional office of the Society for Contraceptive and Sexual Education,
and I am
also planning to contact the other mentioned civic organizations. In
the very
near future they will provide the needed letters of references, which
should
state that – on the base of our collaboration – the communication of
the
recommendations to the main actors of the reproductive health policies
and
services, and also their implementation might become possible.
5.
The utilization of the research results
Even if my
research will be able to grasp the interrelatedness of many phenomena
(as
discussed above), the policy recommendations related to reproductive
health
services could become really efficient if they would be integrated into
a whole
range of policies concerning the general improvement of Roma’s
condition.
However, there are some factors that function as obstacles in the full
access
to the reproductive health services and which might be changed if one
intervenes into the related national legislation and in the ways in
which the
medical system is functioning in the terms of providing reproductive
health
services. The recommendations are going to be based on the expected
research
results related exactly to these factors.
These recommendations
are going to
be communicated and implemented through the already suggested local
non-governmental organizations acting on the improvement of women’s
reproductive health in Romania. My objective in these terms is to
transmit the
recommendations of this research to the main actors involved into the
development and implementation of policies on this domain, like the
Ministry of
Health, County Health Directorates and reproductive health care
providers. It
is to be emphasized that I am also going to exploit the existent
mechanisms for
communicating directly with the former, those through which they use to
consult
with non-governmental organizations and professionals on their
policy-making
decisions.