Also on International Women’s Day, the feminist Roma want to be visible and contribute to the integration of the fight against racism in the feminist movement. To this end, it is essential to make known the realities of racialised women and, in particular, gypsies. Otherwise, even if the movement has a favorable attitude towards intersectionality, in practice the vision of white women will prevail, limiting us to giving a couple of strokes on issues that do not correspond to our political priorities.

This year, Bilbao Feminista Saretzen has based his communication on the defense of a public surveillance system. Of course, the feminist Gypsies understand and reaffirm the importance of this cry, that is, that all people have the right to be cared for and that the rights of workers who exercise care must be guaranteed (given that this is a sector crossed by sexist, clasile and racist power relations). We also question the established gender roles and the historical obligation of women to care.

In any case, we found it important to explain how we understand and experience care. As our families continue to be extended, we organize to care for children, the elderly and the sick, as well as family members who need intensive care. That is why we do not use childcare facilities or nursing homes, except to care for family members with special needs such as Alzheimer’s.

As for the elderly, respect for them is one of the preferred values in the Roma culture, and over the years the social recognition of our Uncles and Izekoak (as we call them) increases. That is why we are surprised to see that many older people are alone or unprotected. In our families, we women take care of mothers and amamas and men take care of male relatives, a responsibility they take with pride.

For all these reasons, while we join in calling for quality and free public services, we have other kinds of demands. In the case of older women, the State denies the widower's pension because it does not recognize the civil value of the Roma marriage. Moreover, almost all Roma women over the age of 65 receive a non-contributory pension because they have not had access to the labour market or because they have worked in an informal economy. In the area of childcare we demand universal birth permits (currently unpaid parents do not pay) and at least one year. Although we work on the co-responsibility of men, we are in favour of financially supporting women who choose to live maternity intensively.

In short, we see the need for quality and free professional services and figures that respect cultural diversity, as well as to take into account the diversity of needs of families living in the Basque Country. But, as anticapitalists, we believe that the axis of the public surveillance system represented by feminism should not be the externalization of care, but the strengthening of community alternatives. Perhaps, in order to carry out this second and materialise the eco-feminist motto “life in the centre”, we must learn from the values and vision of the world of the Roma people.