Loredana, a homeless and partially mute and deaf Roma woman in Copenhagen, is struggling to make ends meet. Like many Roma families living in poverty across Eastern Europe, Loredana moved to Denmark hoping to send money back home to her children in Romania. However, with limited literacy skills, discrimination, and barriers to employment, she is finding it difficult to survive.
To earn money, Loredana sells a magazine called Strada, or Street, which is exclusively sold by homeless people in Copenhagen. Despite her efforts, she has faced legal repercussions for begging in front of a supermarket and is now facing the threat of deportation.
Denmark’s harsh laws targeting begging and homelessness have disproportionately affected the Roma community, with pregnant Roma women like Loredana at a higher risk of obstetric complications due to limited access to healthcare. The begging law criminalizes their only option to earn money and compromises their reproductive health.
International organizations and advocates have criticized Denmark’s laws, calling for the repeal of the ban on begging. The legal barriers faced by Roma women like Loredana highlight the systemic discrimination and challenges they face in accessing basic healthcare and resources. As discussions continue on the legality and impact of Denmark’s laws on marginalized communities, Loredana and others like her are left struggling to survive in a system that criminalizes their poverty.
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Photo credit www.aljazeera.com
