Traditional ways of life and contemporary challenges
The Roma, or the Gypsies, are Europe’s largest and mostly ignored minority. Two thirds of today’s around ten million European Roma live in Central and Eastern Europe - most of them in closed communities marked by extreme poverty and ancient social codes which compel women to be submissive. They are expected to marry young, have many children and work hard in the household. While many Roma women abide by these traditional rules others question them, as Delia Radu finds out, in Poland, Romania and Albania.
