‘[…], it is civil society that moves most tirelessly – the organisations, the lawyers, the defenders, the Roma and Traveller communities themselves and within them, so prominently, women.
They are the ones who carry not only the weight of injustice but the knowledge of resilience, of diversity, of collective strength and solidarity. They push for change, grounded in evidence. They organise, advocate, empower. They build trust where institutions have failed.
And though they face all sorts of risks, their voice does not falter:
‘Nothing about us without us.’’
The passage above is taken from Michael O’Flaherty’s ‘The Unheard 12 Million: The unstoppable voices of Roma and Traveller Women’, a recent account of Traveller and Roma lived experiences in modern Europe.
Traveller and Roma women have been pivotal in the work of Pavee Point and are often the custodians of Traveller and Roma rights, equality and cultural identity. Traveller and Roma women have played a significant role in transmitting this from one generation to the next and have been stalwart in advocating and defending Traveller and Roma rights as minority ethnic groups.
As we mark the end of the festive season, and on the occasion of Nollaig na mBan, we pay tribute to the strength and resilience of Traveller and Roma women working to further the rights of their communities.