struggle to assert or prove their nationality. When technical legal barriers and antigypsyism combine, administrative systems can become almost impossible to navigate, underpinning and reinforcing the risk of statelessness. Without identification documents to assert their nationality, people face difficulties accessing other rights like education, healthcare, employment, and housing. So far, little attention has been paid to how Roma women and girls experience these issues. It is vital to understand the interconnected forms of discrimination and structural power dynamics that shape the lives of Roma women and girls at risk of statelessness. Resolving statelessness requires an intersectional approach, which means recognising how gender, race, class, and other factors privilege some and exclude others both directly and indirectly impacting on their access to legal identity and nationality rights. 6 Efforts to amend legal frameworks to prevent direct discrimination are important but addressing how laws are implemented in practice is equally vital. This requires listening to Romani women’s experiences, understanding the issues they are facing, and adopting the solutions they put forward. Through this initiative, and drawing on our work, activism, and lived experience, we have identified four core issues that affect Romani women’s equal access to legal identity and nationality. These are not intended to be comprehensive, but rather, are a reflection of the current priorities we have identified together. Our goal with this initiative is to address these issues at European level, start conversations, and lobby for more attention to be paid to the issues we think are important for the benefit of stateless communities 1. SOCIO -ECONOMIC RIGHTS The rights attached to nationality are enabling rights, facilitating access to education, healthcare, housing, employment, and other services. Experiences of discrimination and exclusion vary significantly depending on many factors, including country of residence, but there are also common experiences. In the Western Balkans, the exclusion and marginalisation affecting Roma communities has been described as “lack of financial means, lack of access to education, to civil status documentation, to governance and democratic structures, to formal employment, to healthcare, and to basic dignity and a sense of self-worth and belonging”. 7 The risk of statelessness is intertwined within these experiences and can arise as a consequence of or exacerbate other forms of discrimination. It is often a vicious cycle, as, without civil documentation, proving your identity in a legal procedure to challenge rights violations can be impossible. For Roma women and girls, gendered discrimination and social norms add another layer to these experiences. Patriarchal norms in families and wider society mean women face a particularly high burden fulfilling the basic needs of their families and communities. Lack of civil status can prevent access to social security and services. Antigypsyism fosters and reinforces distrust and prevents recourse to justice. Often it is men in the family who work informally, leaving women with little economic independence and agency. This, in turn, can heighten the risk of violence against women and girls. Lack of economic means can also prevent access to remedies, as fees associated with Brennan, D., Murray, N., & Petrozziello, A. J. (2021), ‘Asking the 'other questions': Applying intersectionality to understand statelessness in Europe’ in Bloom, T. & Kingston, L. (Eds), Statelessness, governance and the problem of citizenship, Manchester University Press. 7 ECCR, ISI, ENS, ‘Roma Belong. Statelessness, Discrimination and Marginalisation of Roma in the Western Balkans and Ukraine’ (October 2017) 43, available at: <roma-belong.pdf (errc.org)>. 6