EU-projektet i Skåne. Foto: Marie Eriksson.

Romany women face opposition from authorities in Skåne

Publicerat 7 Jul, 2006

The idea was that a number of Romany women would quietly sign on the dotted line and authorise the local authority’s recently-appointed integration expert to access information about them without him needing to explain why. But, there was no way that was going to happen, not after the women had increased their self-esteem and self-confidence in a new EU training project.

The integration expert was nonplussed. The women asked him what concrete assistance he could actually offer, and they were not satisfied with vague talk about co-operation and integration. When they also asked him for his telephone number and mail address, things obviously became too much for him. Suddenly, he couldn't remember his address or number and said that he had not had time to learn them in the two months he had been employed.

"Previously, I would have accepted it if an official, or some other person, had treated me in this way," says Natasha Cerepovski.
Several of the other six women around the table, all in their 20s or 30s, nod in agreement.

They are attending a morning lesson as part of the EU Equal project "Co-operating Young Romany Women Create an Enterprising Lifestyle" that will run until the end of 2007. On this particular morning, personal development and motivation are on the timetable in Lund, subjects that are common themes in the project.

"I am ashamed when I think about how I used to present myself before: "My name is Silvia and I am on social security", says Silvia Cerepovski. "As though this was my entire identity! As though people could walk all over me!"

Many of the women in the project, and their relatives, have on more than one occasion met social workers who have said: "There is no point in your joining a project, it will never lead to anything anyway", or employment officers who firmly declare that it will be extremely difficult for them to ever find a job. They are not really sure whether this is because they are Romanies or whether it is because they are generally labelled as "immigrants". "But there are a lot of different immigrant groups that are treated badly," says Ruza Kuzhaicov.

Tina Sköld Engdahl tells us about the huge difference there can be between two neighbouring municipalities - Staffanstorp and Lund. The Municipality of Lund has been involved in the project from the start and feels that it is very positive that these Romany women are striving to educate themselves and break free of their dependence on social security payments. Two of the participants come from Lund and have been employed on a salary in the project. The other five women (one is ill today) are from the Municipality of Staffanstorp and they feel that they have been treated dismissively and without respect by the employment officers and social workers there, as well as by the co-ordinating integration expert. (The Umbrella project will publish their response to this criticism next week).

Two and a half years ago, the project manager, Tina Sköld Engdahl, visited a meeting of the association Lovara. Lovara was formed by Romanies from the former Yugoslavia in 1992. The association works, for example, with youth projects and assists with contacts between its members and the authorities.
"The entire association was probably there that night," says Tina Sköld Engdahl. "About a hundred people, mostly men. The women stood along the walls or were in the kitchen. I was the only woman who sat at a big table together with the men."
She had come to see if she could gather together a group of women who were interested in learning more about personal development and how to start and run companies. In her everyday working life, Tina Sköld Engdahl works as an advisor to people who intend to set up and run co-operatives at Tillsammans - KoopUtveckling i Skåne.

When the news of her approaching visit spread, many of the Romany men decided that they would also like to be part of such a group, together with the young women. "You must understand," they said to Tina Sköld Engdahl. But, the Municipality of Lund had decided that the focus should be on the women and all of the men quickly left the meeting, leaving behind a group of interested women.

"Oh, I wish that I had filmed the first few times we met," she says. "You were as quiet as mice, wouldn't look me in the eye and never said what you really thought or what you wanted."
Today, Natasha Cerepovski says, while cradling her 8-month old son Gusti in her arms, that she will talk to her husband about him staying at home if she gets a job. This would have been inconceivable before. These are women who have always been accompanied to and from school by their parents, who have not been allowed to travel by bus themselves and who have learnt to never leave home before everything was cleaned, washed and ironed. They have been taught to always put the needs of their families first.

For the first two and a half years, the group met several times a week. Since the activities became an EU project in January, the women work in the project on a full-time basis. Business and social studies, computer training, health and fitness and, not least, personal development form the pillars of the project "Co-operating Young Romany Women Create an Enterprising Lifestyle".

The idea is that the participants will receive the knowledge, motivation and support required to be able to develop their own company ideas in co-operation with each other. A café, fashion design, restaurants and shops are examples of the kinds of things the women would like to work with.

Sali Petrov shows us her driving licence. She is the first one to have passed the driving test. The others will soon be ready to take the test too; this is part of the training programme. Following the public social and political debate and events in the media is also part of the programme. Each of the women also represents a political party. This means that they have to find out as much as possible about the party, follow what is happening, inform the other participants about current events and engage in political discussions with them.
They also tell us that they now go to the local swimming baths regularly. Even before everything is spick and span at home.

The women's' march towards independence must mean that their nearest and dearest are having to do more of the housework and cater for themselves, and that they are witnessing a startling metamorphosis: From self-effacing cleaners and cooks to self-aware women who are making the most of the advantages and opportunities that society has to offer - outside the confines of the home. How smooth a transition has this been, really?
"I don't suppose I have been the Romany men's' dream woman," says Tina Sköld Engdahl with a laugh.
Several of the other women nod and laugh too. It has been a major transformation, it is continuing and it will take time.

"This is not something that will happen over the course of a few months, my greatest challenge is to have patience," she says, "patience with the fact that it will take time."
Suddenly, the women have to try to get parallel lines in their lives to meet. They have to combine full-time studies with housekeeping and cooking and their roles as wives and mothers, a struggle that many other women face in Sweden - a country where the myth is that there is a high degree of gender equality. Men who have traditionally seen wives and daughters as Madonnas whose primary role is to serve them are suddenly being confronted with women who check their diaries before saying when they have time, instead of simply being there to serve at the drop of a hat.

Initially, the husbands and boyfriends drove the women to and from the meetings. They used to stay in the room while waiting and could here what Tina Sköld Engdahl had to say. Whatever the subject, she often took up, in one way or another, the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding in relationships. "My main task is to strengthen the self-confidence of these women and ensure that they become a part of society."

"At first, it felt as though I needed his permission to leave the house", says Natasha Cerepovski. "But now my husband thinks that it's good that I go out, that I'm not there all the time."
"And the children are so glad that I feel good and am happy," says Silvia Cerepovski.

All of the women say that their relatives accept and support their new, more independent lives, and Tina Sköld Engdahl says that she has an excellent relationship with the women's families and the association Lovara.
"But not everyone is as lucky as we are," says Sali Petrov. "There are those who are shut in at home, who want to do more but are not allowed to."

Originally, two and a half years ago, the group was larger. There were 16 participants at its height, but there have been only seven for some time now. "It is uncertain in some cases whether those who dropped out did so because they were not allowed to continue by their families or because they simply did not want to continue," says Tina Sköld Engdahl. "Some of them have just informed us that they will not be attending any more, while others have been clearer and said that they just don't want to continue."

"The course makes demands, we don't just encourage the women, we push them too," she says. "These women are very strong and ambitious and they fight hard against a lot of opposition, not least from the authorities. These women are pioneers."

 

Marie Eriksson marie@stockholmskulturbyra.se

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