From 3 to 5 October, Romanesque entrepreneurs from Europe and Central and South America will meet in Bilbao, at the 1st International Meeting of Gender Anti-Gypsies. Congress. The Association of Gypsy Women of the Basque Country (AMUGE) and the Romi Berriak Association have organized this meeting to reflect and share strategies on gender anti-gypsy.

Gender anti-gypsy is a concept unknown to society and still under construction by Roma women, as explained by the organizers. Specifically, it refers to the specific racism or discrimination suffered by Roma women, and "this category of analysis allows the denunciation of the transsystemic violence that Roma women experience". Being a concept still under construction, one of the objectives of the congress will be to reach a consensus on the unitary definition of gender anti-Roma, concretize its manifestations and identify how to face it.

In the words of Tamara Clavería, from the association AMUGE, it is essential to conceptualize the specific violence against Roma women in order to claim and exercise their rights. If so, they will focus on this, also allowing for the sharing of experiences, knowledge and strategies.

For Clavería, "Congress is an excellent opportunity to consolidate an international alliance in the fight against gender anti-Roma". He believes it is a very important quote for the feminist Roma, and for the feminist movement of Euskal Herria, to whom they will ask "the commitment to be our allies to build together a plural society based on equality and diversity".

Furthermore, the definitions and conclusions agreed at the congress will directly affect the Basque Pact against Anti-Gypsianism, which, according to Clavería, will help to lay the foundations of the pact. They point out that "this pact is a commitment announced by the Department of Equality, Justice and Social Policies, within the Basque Strategy with the Roma People for the period 2022-2026".

Three days to deepen gender anti-Roma

The congress includes a three-day program that will start and end at the Hotel Occidental Bilbao. The first two days will be non-mixed, only for Roma (on the first day both Roma women and men and on the second day only Roma women will be able to participate). The conferences will be on their first day. On the second day, the participants will be divided into five working groups to reflect on the manifestations of gender anti-Roma living in different areas of life. On the third day, the analyses and conclusions of Congress will be made public, in which all citizens will be able to participate.

The interested party can find the full program on the social networks of the association AMUGE.