The Association of Roma Women Romi Serseni in Madrid and the women behind it, real example of overcoming and empowering
THE ASSOCIATION OF ROMA WOMEN ROMI SERSENI (MADRID)
As part of the compilation of success stories in relation to the Roma population being conducted by Florida Universitaria and other European institutions within the framework of the PAL Project against discrimination and antigypsysm in the fields of education and employment, the present post will talk about the Association of Roma Women Romi Sersení, in Madrid (Spain) and especially the women behind this association.
The women behind the Association of Roma women are an example of overcoming and empowering. Their effort and their constant dedication allowed them to create the association in 1991, the first association of Roma women of Madrid. At that time, their objective was clear and forceful: to fight against all kinds of discrimination (racial, sexual or cultural) and to foster coexistence and tolerance between different cultural communities.
To this end, the members of the association have opted for networking and have worked to carry out projects of training and job insertion aimed at people and groups at risk of social and labor exclusion or with difficulties to achieve social and labour integration.
At the same time, the association has shaped projects aimed at promoting equal opportunities, eradicating gender-based violence, reconciling work and family life, and developing values such as tolerance under a context of interculturality.
All this accompanied by a real effort to give response to the real needs of the most disadvantaged, needs in terms of social and labor insertion.
The association sees itself as dynamic, in continuous change and growth, being nurtured by the environment and the people who are part of it. More and more disadvantaged people have been helped by this association, whose scope of action covers part of the districts of the city of Madrid and especially its main slums.