Barbora Bukovská
Encyclopedia
Barbora Bukovská is a Czech-Slovak human rights attorney, known for her work on racial discrimination of Roma people in Czech Republic
and Slovakia
. She is a founder of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, Košice
, Slovakia. In 2002, she uncovered a practice of forced sterilization of Romani women in Slovakia in her controversial report "Body and Soul", for which she was criminally prosecuted by the Slovak Government. The Slovak Government rejected the report as unfounded; but it was widely supported and backed up internationally, including by the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, the Amnesty International and others. Since then, she has been representing victims of this practice at the courts. In 2009, she won a case K. H. and Others v. Slovakia, concerning access of forcibly sterilized women to their medical documents. On 8 November 2011, the European Court for Human Rights decided the first case concerning forced sterilization, V. C. v. Slovakia, in favor of the plaintiff, which was referred to as a ground-breaking one http://poradna-prava.sk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/PDF-89-KB4.pdf.
She received a Woman of the World Award by Marie Claire
, USA in 2004.
In 2006, she published another controversial paper on exploitation of suffering of victims of human righs violations by international human rights organizations at the Cairo conference of the Open Society Institute
; the paper was later re-published by the PILI and Sur Journal.
She is a niece of John Bukovsky
, the first papal nuncio in the Russian Federation. She is active in Catholic and feminist movements.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. She is a founder of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, Košice
Košice
Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...
, Slovakia. In 2002, she uncovered a practice of forced sterilization of Romani women in Slovakia in her controversial report "Body and Soul", for which she was criminally prosecuted by the Slovak Government. The Slovak Government rejected the report as unfounded; but it was widely supported and backed up internationally, including by the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, the Amnesty International and others. Since then, she has been representing victims of this practice at the courts. In 2009, she won a case K. H. and Others v. Slovakia, concerning access of forcibly sterilized women to their medical documents. On 8 November 2011, the European Court for Human Rights decided the first case concerning forced sterilization, V. C. v. Slovakia, in favor of the plaintiff, which was referred to as a ground-breaking one http://poradna-prava.sk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/PDF-89-KB4.pdf.
She received a Woman of the World Award by Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
, USA in 2004.
In 2006, she published another controversial paper on exploitation of suffering of victims of human righs violations by international human rights organizations at the Cairo conference of the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
; the paper was later re-published by the PILI and Sur Journal.
She is a niece of John Bukovsky
John Bukovsky
Archbishop John Bukovsky SVD, was a naturalized United States citizen, born in Cerova-Lieskové, Slovakia, and a Vatican diplomat; he was a member of the Society of the Divine Word since 1950. He was ordained as a priest on 3 December 1950 in Techny, Illinois. Priest of Divine Word Missionaries...
, the first papal nuncio in the Russian Federation. She is active in Catholic and feminist movements.