Dževrija, a sex worker and heroin addict who lives in a Romani community within Serbia. Aleksandrija Ajdukovic/Vice. All rights reserved.
The mountainous lands that serve as both bridges and buffers between “civilizations” have endured waves of horrific abuses. World wars, domestic massacres, international bombings, and most recently, an ongoing refugee crisis, have challenged the fabric of Western Balkan nations and created new victims of oppression. The media, political analysts, and many NGOs rightfully report on the many current abuses committed by Balkan and European governments as Syrian war refugees attempt to flee to safety. This attention must not waver and should indeed magnify. Yet unwittingly, an exclusive spotlight on the recent, acute humanitarian crisis can sometimes mute more persistent, normalized forms of oppression in the region. Women of the Balkans, for instance, are constant victims of oppressive societal structures and perceptions. They suffer from normalized domestic violence, honor killings, socio-economic barriers, cultural shaming – among many other harms.
Gender can be quite the crippling social factor. Just being female makes one vulnerable to a wide range of human rights abuses. So, what if you happen to be a woman who also lives on the outskirts of acceptable, mainstream culture? What if your sources of oppression intersect in the most complex of ways? The Roma women of the Western Balkans face injustices that arise from their gender, skin color, socio-economic class, and cultural ways of life. A Roma woman must battle against a maze of societal oppressions on daily basis – she has done so for centuries and continues to do so today as new humanitarian crises rise and fall.
