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Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online

COVID-19 has exacerbated the vulnerability of the Roma communities in Europe. However, these communities have a strong sense of resilience, and the role of Roma women must be highlighted since they have historically nurtured solidarity networks even in the most challenging situations. Aim: A particu...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Aiello, Emilia, Khalfaoui, Andrea, Torrens, Xavier, Flecha, Ramón
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9102317/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35564919
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095524
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author Aiello, Emilia
Khalfaoui, Andrea
Torrens, Xavier
Flecha, Ramón
author_facet Aiello, Emilia
Khalfaoui, Andrea
Torrens, Xavier
Flecha, Ramón
author_sort Aiello, Emilia
collection PubMed
description COVID-19 has exacerbated the vulnerability of the Roma communities in Europe. However, these communities have a strong sense of resilience, and the role of Roma women must be highlighted since they have historically nurtured solidarity networks even in the most challenging situations. Aim: A particular action organized by a Roma Association of Women is analyzed: the Roma Women Students’ Gathering (RWSG, or gathering). In its 19th edition, this democratic space aimed at tackling the challenges the pandemic has raised and its impact on the Roma communities. Method: The 19th RWSG, which was the first one held online, was inductively analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of the key aspects that the Roma women highlight when they organize themselves. Results: RWSG generates optimal conditions where Roma women identify the challenges affecting their community and, drawing on the dialogues shared, agree on strategies to contest them. RWSG also enhanced solidarity interactions that enabled the conquering of the virtual space, transforming it into an additional space where the Roma could help each other and thus better navigate the uncertainties unleashed by COVID-19. Key features of the Roma culture emerged in these spaces of solidarity, such as protecting the elderly and prioritizing community wellbeing rather than only the individual’s preferences. Conclusions: Roma women play a key role in weaving an organized response to the uncertainty derived from COVID-19, and connecting them to the public sphere, potentially achieving social and political impacts.
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spelling pubmed-91023172022-05-14 Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online Aiello, Emilia Khalfaoui, Andrea Torrens, Xavier Flecha, Ramón Int J Environ Res Public Health Article COVID-19 has exacerbated the vulnerability of the Roma communities in Europe. However, these communities have a strong sense of resilience, and the role of Roma women must be highlighted since they have historically nurtured solidarity networks even in the most challenging situations. Aim: A particular action organized by a Roma Association of Women is analyzed: the Roma Women Students’ Gathering (RWSG, or gathering). In its 19th edition, this democratic space aimed at tackling the challenges the pandemic has raised and its impact on the Roma communities. Method: The 19th RWSG, which was the first one held online, was inductively analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of the key aspects that the Roma women highlight when they organize themselves. Results: RWSG generates optimal conditions where Roma women identify the challenges affecting their community and, drawing on the dialogues shared, agree on strategies to contest them. RWSG also enhanced solidarity interactions that enabled the conquering of the virtual space, transforming it into an additional space where the Roma could help each other and thus better navigate the uncertainties unleashed by COVID-19. Key features of the Roma culture emerged in these spaces of solidarity, such as protecting the elderly and prioritizing community wellbeing rather than only the individual’s preferences. Conclusions: Roma women play a key role in weaving an organized response to the uncertainty derived from COVID-19, and connecting them to the public sphere, potentially achieving social and political impacts. MDPI 2022-05-02 /pmc/articles/PMC9102317/ /pubmed/35564919 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095524 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Aiello, Emilia
Khalfaoui, Andrea
Torrens, Xavier
Flecha, Ramón
Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online
title Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online
title_full Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online
title_fullStr Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online
title_full_unstemmed Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online
title_short Connecting Roma Communities in COVID-19 Times: The First Roma Women Students’ Gathering Held Online
title_sort connecting roma communities in covid-19 times: the first roma women students’ gathering held online
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9102317/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35564919
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095524
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