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“I really didn’t want to be a wife at 14.”

Por United Nations Development Programme

06 de May de 2021

Angela Radita’s first encounter with discrimination was sudden and stinging. An avid student who stayed up late to read by candlelight because she had no electricity, she had finished college and applied for a librarian’s post but was rejected because she is Roma.

“If something new comes up, I’ll let you know,’ the hiring manager told her. “But now we have no available places.”

“To this day, I’ve never worked as a librarian. I had studied and worked hard, but it wasn’t enough,” says Angela, a councillor, community mediator and social activist. “I just cried. For the first time, I had encountered distrust solely because of my name, which revealed my ethnicity.”

Angela's college photo. She is in the front row, second from the right.

Beyond her own disappointment, she feared her experience would discourage other Roma girls from pursuing their dreams. If she — the first Roma child to leave her small village to attend college — couldn’t find work in her chosen profession, why should they try?

At every “next step” point in her life, Angela faced similar pressures of traditional societal views.

When she turned 14, her mother told her she’d had enough of school and should get married. “She asked me to make my choice; marry or continue studying. And I chose school. I really didn’t want to be a wife at 14.”

In a family photo album, relatives on the left, Angela on the right.

Gender expectations continued as she decided what to study: “My grandmother saw me as a seamstress. But I really enjoyed reading.”

Leaving for college was the moment she realized she wanted to change things in her village, but upon returning home faced the biggest disappointment of the job rejection. She had grown up in this diverse community that embraced all ethnicities: her classmates were Roma and non-Roma and she always felt part of the village. But now she had lost that inclusive feeling.

“I really didn’t want to be a wife at 14.”

For the next decade, she worked as a farm labourer alongside her mother and grandmother.

Roma make up only a tiny fraction of Moldova’s 2.68 million people and, historically, are among the poorest, most vulnerable people in Europe. Roma women on average marry earlier, learn less, earn less, and are especially vulnerable to poverty. They are rarely represented in public life.

But in 2004, the voice of Roma people began to be heard in Moldova. A relative of Angela’s visiting from the capital city Chisinau discussed the Roma movement with her and encouraged her to start an NGO.

Angela’s civic life was born. She became a community mediator for the mayor’s office in Gribova, advising citizens how to solve their problems and interact with authorities. She might help fellow villagers with writing job applications or finding a doctor.

Angela talks with a Roma woman who has seasonal agricultural work through a partnership with Gribova Village Hall.

Angela became a community mediator for the mayor’s office in Gribova, advising citizens how to solve their problems and interact with authorities.

In 2018, Angela volunteered for a UNDP-supported voter education campaign for upcoming elections, going door-to-door in Gribova informing people about their rights and encouraging them to vote. The campaign engaged 11,000 Roma, but she noticed there was a disconnect between the Roma people and the candidates.

That was the moment she decided to run.

It wasn’t an easy path. The Roma community was not active in the voting process, which meant more education about why representation is important.

“I told people it would be beneficial if there was someone from the Roma community to truly represent them in local or district councils, and defend their rights,” Angela says.

Despite deeply entrenched biases against Roma and women in positions of authority, a record 12 Roma women and men — including Angela — were elected. Politics has long been considered less accessible for minority groups and for women. Patriarchal norms make a women’s journey in public space harsher and more highly scrutinized. And Roma have long suffered discrimination and exclusion. Angela has broken both of those barriers.

Angela, in addition to being a local councillor, is a community mediator. Angela helps these Roma women go to the doctor regularly and fill out their paperwork.

Despite being new to electoral politics, and wearing two “minority group” hats, Angela Radita was determined to make a change.

“The problems I see every day make me want to see what I can do. Hopefully I will make a good change, for both for Roma and non-Roma women. In Moldova, our fates are almost the same,” she says. “I want the collaboration and cooperation of all citizens.”

In 2016, Moldova adopted a law requiring that women make up 40 percent of candidates fielded by all political parties. This was enforced in local elections for the first time in 2019, which made a difference. Now, 37 percent of councilors are women, which is the highest gender representation across the levels of government.

But while 2019 also saw the highest number of elected Roma local councilors, they represented only eight of the 185 districts with Roma communities. There is more work to be done.

“I hope my example will be compelling and in the next elections there will be more of us,” Angela says

Angela in her office. Politics has long been considered less accessible for minority groups and for women. Angela has broken both of those barriers.

She plans to develop more social projects together with the local council and mayor’s office. Things like renovating the local park ensuring all children can attend school, and work to create more jobs.

Angela has made it her mandate to lift up her community, and everyone in it. “I will get involved in social projects that benefit the people. Because everything I do, I do for my village, for my community, for the people who live in this village, regardless of ethnicity,” she says.