In May 2015, Praxis conducted two workshops on child, early and forced marriages for Roma women and Roma men from the settlement Blazevo, Novi Pazar, with UNHCR support. The workshops were designed in a way that women/girls participated on the first day and men/boys on the second. The reason to divide participants on the basis of sex is the fact that child, early and forced marriages differently affect the lives of men and women, actually that girls/women are largely those who suffer the consequences of such marriages.

A total of 40 persons – 20 men/boys and 20 women/girls participated in the workshops. The following topics were tackled through discussion and examples from practice: position of women and men within the Roma community, traditional customs, importance of education, availability of health care, child upbringing, life without violence, and legal framework regulating the exercise of the stated rights.

In addition, the video clips Avoid My Destiny and I'm a Roma Woman were played.

The goal of the workshops was to open a discussion within the Roma population about harmful traditional customs, and to discover mechanisms that would help to easily leave the circle of poverty.



For more information, see:  Workshop on child, early and forced marriages in Novi Pazar