Legal Training for Romani & Traveller Women Activists and Women-Led Organisations

01 September 2025

We invite Romani & Traveller women activists and women-led Romani & Traveller organisations to apply for a short and practical legal training. This programme will help participants learn how to describe the problems in their communities using human rights language, based on the Council of Europe's (CoE) standards. It will focus on women’s rights and show how to bring local or national issues to the attention of CoE bodies.

What Is This Project About?

This training is part of a three-year project. In 2025, it will focus on 2 or 3 important human rights mechanisms of the Council of Europe, such as GREVIO (violence against women), ECRI (discrimination and racism), and others. The goal is to help Romani & Traveller women understand how the CoE works and how to use its legal standards in their own work.

Participants will learn to look at real-life problems—like discrimination, violence, and poverty—using the rules and standards that the CoE has developed.

Why Should You Apply?

This training will help you:

• Learn to describe rights violations using human rights language.
• Understand the most relevant Council of Europe standards for Romani & Traveller women.
• Practice how to prepare reports and other documents that bring attention to problems in your community.
• Connect with other activists and experts working on similar issues.
• Bring local or national issues of injustice to the attention of Council of Europe bodies.

What Will the Training Include?

• Simple and practical online training sessions about 2 or 3 CoE bodies and how they work.
• Examples from real life to help connect legal standards to everyday problems.
• Support from mentors in learning how to prepare short reports or submissions.
• Easy-to-understand learning materials that fit different levels of education and experience.

What Can You Expect After the Training?

By the end of this 3-month online training, you will have a better understanding of Council of Europe human rights standards. You will also be able to use these standards to describe and explain rights violations affecting Romani & Traveller women. You will feel more confident in speaking about these problems and connecting them to international human rights rules. This can help bring more attention and support to your local and national work.

Who Can Apply?

Romani & Traveller women activists and women-led Romani & Traveller civil society organisations* who:

• Work on human rights and gender equality in Council of Europe countries;
• Want to learn more about human rights law in simple and useful ways;
• Are interested in using legal tools to talk about the problems they see every day.

Application Process

Interested applicants should send the following to capacity.building@errc.org by 23:59 on 15 September 2025:

• A brief description of your organisation or activist profile, including goals, activities, geographical scope, and community engagement.
• A statement (max. 500 words) describing your interest in participating and how your organisation or activism would benefit from this training.

Only selected applicants will be contacted. Decisions will be communicated promptly by the project's management team.

Training sessions and mentorship will be facilitated by the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC).

Join us to empower Romani & Traveller women as leaders and advocates, driving lasting change within their communities and beyond.

This project is funded by the Council of Europe.

 

* The ERRC will accept applications from anyone with heritage from ethnic identities commonly collectively referred to as ‘Roma and Travellers’ by the Council of Europe (despite encompassing multiple ethnic groups), including groups such as: Roma, Sinti, Manouche, Calé, Kale, Romanichal, Romany Gypsy, Gitanos, Bayash, Rudari, Traveller, Yenish, Gens du voyage, Balkan Egyptian, Ashkali, Abdal, Dom, Lom.