Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T13:51:42.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Legal advocacy as a tool to advance Roma Health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2017

Tamar Ezer ,
Alphia Abdikeeva  and
Martin McKee
Tamar Ezer
Affiliation:
Clinical Lecturer in Law & Visiting Human Rights Scholar, Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights, Yale Law School, CT, USA
Alphia Abdikeeva
Affiliation:
Independent Consultant, Almeria, Spain
Martin McKee*
Affiliation:
ECOHOST, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
*
*Correspondence to: Martin McKee, ECOHOST, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH, UK. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Roma in central Europe face many violations of their rights, including those that impede their access to high-quality health care. Legal frameworks have the potential to address these violations, whereas legal advocacy services offer a means for enforcement of rights. We undertook key informant interviews with Roma civil society organisations and selected knowledgeable individuals in Macedonia, Romania and Serbia to identify lessons from the development of these services. Achievements were reported in four areas. Legal empowerment, with employment of Roma paralegals was especially effective, increasing awareness of the ability to challenge violations. Documentation of human rights violations is an important basis for advocacy, but does not guarantee redress, and may work best in combination with legal empowerment or international pressure. Strategic litigation can play a key role in removing bureaucratic obstacles that prevent Roma from exercising their right to access to health care. Progress in changing the narrative on Roma in the mainstream media has been limited but examples of good practice exist. Although much remains to be done, Roma groups report that legal advocacy has strengthened their ability to challenge rights violations, thereby enhancing their ability to access effective and responsive care.

Type
Articles
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 92 - 105
Check for updates
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdikeeva, A., Ezer, T. and Covaci, A. (2013), ‘Assessing legal advocacy to advance Roma health in Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia’, European Journal of Health Law, 20(5): 471–486.Google Scholar
Arora, V. S., Kuhlbrandt, C. and McKee, M. (2016), ‘An examination of unmet health needs as perceived by Roma in Central and Eastern Europe’. European Journal of Public Health, 26 (5): 737–742.Google Scholar
Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015 (2015), Decade declaration, http://www.romadecade.org/decade declaration [27 July 2017].Google Scholar
Duval, L., Wolff, F. C., McKee, M. and Roberts, B. (2016), ‘The Roma vaccination gap: evidence from twelve countries in Central and South-East Europe’, Vaccine, 34(46): 5524–5530.Google Scholar
Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women (ESE) (2014), We Are All Human: Healthcare for All People Regardless of their Ethnicity, Skopje: Foundation Open Society Macedonia.Google Scholar
European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (2010), Fourth Report on “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Strasbourg: ECRI.Google Scholar
European Roma Rights Centre (2006), Ambulance Not on the Way: The Disgrace of Health Care for Roma in Europe, Budapest: European Roma Rights Centre.Google Scholar
European Roma Rights Centre (2017), Strategic litigation 2016, http://www.errc.org/strategic-litigation [27 July 2017].Google Scholar
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2009a), EU-MIDIS European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey Data in Focus Report 1: The Roma. Vienna: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.Google Scholar
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2009b), Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers European Union: Comparative Report, Vienna: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.Google Scholar
Ezer, T., Cohen, J. and Quinn, R. (2014), ‘The problem of torture in health care’, in Méndez, J.E. (ed) Torture in Healthcare Settings: Reflections on the Special Rapporteur on Torture’s 2013 Thematic Report. Washington, DC: American University Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, pp. 19–42.Google Scholar
Ezer, T., McKenna, R. and Schaaf, M. (2015), Expert meeting on social accountability and legal empowerment: allied approaches in the struggle for health rights, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/expert-meeting-social-accountability-and-legal-empowerment [27 July 2017].Google Scholar
Fesus, G., Ostlin, P., McKee, M. and Adany, R. (2012), ‘Policies to improve the health and well-being of Roma people: the European experience’, Health Policy, 105(1): 25–32.Google Scholar
Foldes, M. E. and Covaci, A. (2012), ‘Research on Roma health and access to healthcare: state of the art and future challenges’, International Journal of Public Health, 57(1): 37–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fundacion Secretariado Gitano (2012), Health and the Roma Community, Analysis of the Situation in Europe: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Madrid: FSG.Google Scholar
Goldston, J. (2006), ‘Public interest litigation in Central and Eastern Europe: roots, prospects, and challenges’, Human Rights Quarterly, 28(2): 492–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hajioff, S. and McKee, M. (2000), ‘The health of the Roma people: a review of the published literature’, Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, 54(11): 864–869.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Idzerda, L., Adams, O., Patrick, J., Schrecker, T. and Tugwell, P. (2011), ‘Access to primary healthcare services for the Roma population in Serbia: a secondary data analysis’, BMC International Health and Human Rights, 11(1): 1.Google Scholar
Jovanovic, Z. (2015), Why Europe’s ‘Roma Decade’ Didn’t Lead to Inclusion, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/why-europe-s-roma-decade-didn-t-lead-inclusion [27 July 2017].Google Scholar
Kaluski, D. N., Stojanovski, K., McWeeney, G., Paunovic, E., Ostlin, P., Licari, L. and Jakab, Z. (2014), ‘Health insurance and accessibility to health services among Roma in settlements in Belgrade, Serbia – the journey from data to policy making’, Health Policy and Planning, 30(8): 976–984.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kósa, Z., Széles, G., Kardos, L., Kósa, K., Németh, R., Országh, S., Fésüs, G., McKee, M., Ádány, R. and Vokó, Z. (2007), ‘A comparative health survey of the inhabitants of Roma settlements in Hungary’, American Journal of Public Health, 97(5): 853–859.Google Scholar
Kuhlbrandt, C., Footman, K., Rechel, B. and McKee, M. (2014), ‘An examination of Roma health insurance status in Central and Eastern Europe’, European Journal of Public Health, 24(5): 707–712.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKee, M., MacLehose, L. and Nolte, E. (2004), Health Policy and European Union Enlargement, Buckingham: McGraw-Hill Education (UK).Google Scholar
Morse, J. M., Barrett, M., Mayan, M., Olson, K. and Spiers, J. (2002), ‘Verification strategies for establishing reliability and validity in qualitative research’, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1(2): 13–22.Google Scholar
Open Society Foundations (OSF) (2013), Bringing Justice to Health, New York: OSF.Google Scholar
Open Society Foundations (OSF) (2015), Justice Programs for Public Health: A Good Practice Guide, New York: OSF.Google Scholar
Roma S.O.S. (2016), Roma Health: A Basic Human Right, Prilep, Macedonia: Roma S.O.S.Google Scholar
Sandor, J., Kosa, Z., Boruzs, K., Boros, J., Tokaji, I., McKee, M. and Adany, R. (2017), The decade of Roma inclusion: did it make a difference to health and use of health care services? International Journal of Public Health:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-017-0954-9.Google Scholar
Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (2011), Republic of Serbia Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2011. Final Report, Belgrade: Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.Google Scholar
United Nations (2014), ‘Human Rights Council, 26th Session, A/HRC/26/10’, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Yugoslavia, 26 March, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session26/Pages/ListReports.aspx [27 July 2017].Google Scholar