“The mother tongue or first language is the most important – all others come after it.”

Terezija Stojsits is a Burgenland Croat from Austria, a lawyer, politician and one of the defining voices for human rights and minority protection. Growing up in a small village in southern Burgenland, she experienced early on what it means to face structural disadvantages as both a girl and a member of a minority.

“Girls who were ambitious had to be twice as ambitious”, she recalls. Unequal opportunities in education and limited chances for social participation shaped her path. Early on, she realized that real change requires political frameworks.

Stojsits grew up bilingual, an experience that continues to shape her understanding of the importance of language. She strongly criticizes any devaluation of minority languages: “I find it terrible when people want to forbid others from speaking their own language or look down on it.”

As a member of the Austrian National Council, she worked for many years to promote equality, minority rights and social participation. She served a total of 17 years in parliament and then six years as Ombudswoman. Her political engagement was consistently met with resistance, including open hostility in parliament when she began her speeches in Croatian.

Her commitment also involved personal risks. As a minority activist, she was the target of a right-wing extremist attack. Nevertheless, she remained steadfast in her engagement.

Her political understanding is clear: equality, independence and emancipation are not individual privileges, but must be actively fought for. Women in particular continue to face structural disadvantages. “The most important thing for a woman is her own profession and her own income – that creates independence”, Stojsits emphasizes.

In our latest video for the “Women of Minorities” project, she speaks about her journey, discrimination and why political engagement is necessary to achieve lasting change. At the same time, she sends a clear message to the next generation: do not let yourself be intimidated, neither as a woman nor as a member of a minority.