Almost a third of Roma women have personal experience with domestic violence. Yet most of them do not seek professional help. This is according to a new study by the Slovo 21 organization, which also shows a change in attitudes. The number of Roma women who reject traditional family roles and want to be heard is increasing. The research also brings the first extensive probe into the topic of violence in Roma communities.

The Slovo 21 organization for the first time ever examined the experiences of Roma women with domestic violence on a larger scale. 500 women from 19 Czech cities participated in the survey as part of the Speak Out project. Data collection was carried out by 26 trained Roma interviewers.

The issue as usual, is that one generalises based on a sample that is most probably not so representative in the first place. As we always say, if one doesn’t know how many Roma there are, ho can we infer a percentage?

• Romské ženy promluvily o domácím násilí. Třetina ho zažila, pomoc hledají zřídka. In: iDnes. 04.06.2025. https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/domaci/romska-komunita-domaci-nasili-vyzkum.A250603_081359_domaci_pitt