The situation of Roma children is the main focus of the report because very little has happened since the last report. They have far less access to education and health.

The Committee calls on the State party to investigate the full extent of the practice of forced sterilization of women and girls in the communist and post-communist period in the State party and to provide financial and other reparations to the victims.

To change the situation in this day and age, the Committee recommends to ensure the universal coverage of modern contraception and abortion services under public health insurance and remove the parental consent requirement for abortions and contraceptives requested by adolescent girls above the age of sexual consent.

Further, Slovakia has a high teenage birth rate, accompanied by a high rate of school dropout and high infant mortality rate among new-born children of young mothers from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The Committee recommends to develop and implement a policy to protect the rights of pregnant teenagers, adolescent mothers and their children and combat discrimination against them and to foster responsible parenthood and sexual behaviour, with particular attention to boys and men.

The Committee urges the State party to set up a comprehensive strategy, prioritize family and community care and ensure that inclusive education is given priority over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes.

Infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and syphilis, spread in isolated Roma communities and the use of inhaled substances, such as toluene, is widespread, especially among young children. Also, there is a shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas, which hinders children’s access to regular medical check-ups and emergency care. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to introduce systematic measures to effectively monitor, sanction and stop segregation in all its forms in the State party’s hospitals and conduct awareness-raising programmes in Roma communities on basic rights and complaint mechanisms in cases of violations of those rights.

The Committee is concerned that procedures for interrogating children are often used only for children who are younger than 15 years of age and children can undergo initial questioning without the presence of their lawyers, parents or other trusted persons. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to Slovakia to expeditiously re-establish specialized juvenile court procedures with adequate human, technical and financial resources, designate specialized judges for cases involving children and ensure that such specialized judges receive appropriate education and training.

A significant percentage of Roma families continues to live in segregated situations and many still do not have access to adequate housing and suffer from a lack of basic facilities such as sanitation, electricity, drinking water, a sewage system and waste disposal. The Committee recommends to ensure that Roma families are not subjected to forced evictions and demolitions of their settlements without prior notice and that, when such demolitions are necessary, adequate and appropriate alternative housing solutions are provided for them.

In the recent discussions on migration and the European Union’s relocation and resettlement schemes, the State party has repeatedly made clear that it will not accept refugees and asylum seekers who are Muslims.

The Committee is concerned that human rights education is not part of the compulsory curriculum and that no statistics are available on the extent to which it is provided in schools.