Barriers to assistance for women from marginalised roma communities who are experiencing domestic violence

Abstract

This paper deals with the issue of assistance for women from marginalised Roma communities who are experiencing domestic violence, which is a highly topical issue in the Slovak Republic. In the introduction, the paper focuses on clarifying the research problem, theoretical anchoring of the topic, and the research being carried out in this area. The more essential part includes the partial results of the longitudinal study on violence against Roma women (which started in 2016). The research objective was to identify the barriers to seeking assistance and the provision of this assistance for Roma women experiencing domestic violence. To achieve the research objective, the method of grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin version) was used. In the study, we conducted ten expert interviews with the representatives of selected organisations operating in Slovakia. They were the largest organisations operating in Slovakia. The analysis of the interviews showed that there are five main barriers to assistance for women from marginalised Roma communities who are experiencing domestic violence. These barriers are: prejudice and discrimination, downplaying and secondary victimisation by assisting professionals who are in first contact with the women experiencing the violence, unawareness of assistance opportunities among Roma women, inaccessibility of specialised services for victims of domestic violence, and, finally, multiple marginalisation of Roma women caused by poverty, community pressure, long-term unemployment, geographical isolation, and low standard of living. In the discussion section, the findings are compared with foreign findings by relevant authors.