United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Reviews Spain

11 March 2005

Following its 37th session, on July 26, 2004, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) issued its Concluding Comments on Spain after consideration of the State party's report. The Committee raised several concerns with respect to Romani women and issued recommendations for action by the Spanish government, including:

"29. The Committee is concerned that Roma women remain in a vulnerable and marginalized situation, especially with regard to education, employment, housing and health.
30. The Committee recommends that the State party promote and protect the human rights of Roma women, in particular with regard to their access to education, employment, housing and health.
31. Despite the progress made in education in recent years, the Committee remains concerned about discrimination in this area, in particular about early drop out rates from school of Roma girls.
32. The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to promote the access of Roma girls to education and their retention in the system. It recommends that the State party conduct research into the subject and, on the basis of its findings, provide incentives to Roma parents to ensure that their daughters attend school."

In the run-up to the Session, the ERRC submitted written comments on the situation of Romani women in Spain, highlighting issues specifically related to the overrepresentation of Romani women in Spanish prisons, education, employment, health and the failure of Spanish government policies to deal effectively with human rights issues as experienced by Romani women. The submission is available on the ERRC's Internet website at: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1931.