The Association for Research and Social Innovation ADT has launched the project “Young Roma Girls Speak Up,” an initiative aimed at empowering young Roma girls to share their own stories of discrimination, violence, and their struggle for education and dignity through media.
The project is implemented with the support of the Reporting Diversity Network (RDN) and Mediacentar, and will run from August 2025 to May 2026.
The topic is particularly important because Roma girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina often experience multiple forms of marginalization due to their ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status.
Although the law guarantees the right to education for all children, in practice many Roma girls face discrimination in schools, bullying from peers, a lack of institutional support, and almost complete invisibility in the media.
Through the project, ADT will form a Roma girls’ media team that, with mentorship from journalists, researchers, and social inclusion experts, will learn the basics of storytelling, filming, and digital media production. The girls will contribute to the creation of a 30-minute documentary film addressing the issue of violence and discrimination they face.
The documentary will be presented to the public and proposed for broadcast on BHTV, while a social media campaign and cooperation with journalists will help raise broader public awareness about the challenges Roma girls face in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Through this initiative, ADT aims to contribute to a more inclusive media landscape, strengthen social justice, and increase the visibility of marginalized voices—demonstrating that change begins when those who are most often unheard are given the opportunity to speak about their own lives.