Fundación Secretariado Gitano

Fundación Secretariado Gitano celebrates with enthusiasm the approval of the long-awaited Comprehensive Law for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination [editar]

• Equal treatment
• National level

Since the beginning of the process 12 years ago, FSG has promoted the drafting and approval of this law and has made contributions to its content, from a gender and human rights perspective. These contributions have been based on European and international standards, with the aim of ensuring that the law includes all appropriate measures for the eradication of all forms of discrimination and antigypsyism.

Sara Giménez, current president of Fundación Secretariado Gitano, has been one of the main promoters of this law. She was first involved as part of the FSG team that initiated its design together with a group of experts convened by Pedro Zerolo, and currently from her seat as a member of Congress. Fundación Secretariado Gitano also recently promoted the creation of the Alliance for the Comprehensive Law on Equal Treatment to strengthen the joint effort of the NGO that work with potential victims of discrimination and which have made important contributions to the content of the law.

The approval of this law is an important step forward in Spain for the protection of equal rights, and it will have a very special impact on the Roma community, one of the groups that faces the most discrimination and antigypsyism. Fundación Secretariado Gitano has been documenting cases of discrimination for many years and supporting and advising victims of discrimination who, thanks to this law, will have their own channel for filing complaints. In this sense, we value very positively that the law includes the creation of the Independent Authority, in charge of protecting and promoting equal treatment and non-discrimination. Furthermore, we consider it very relevant that the introduction of antigypsyism in the criminal code, as a specific hate crime against the Roma population, is included in the law through a final provision. Among other positive aspects, the law contemplates an administrative sanctioning regime for those discriminatory incidents that do not constitute a crime. We also value positively the incorporation of and special attention to intersectional discrimination, which will be taken into account in the application of measures and sanctions. Finally, we highlight the introduction of support measures for victims of discrimination.

Furthermore, as a member of the Alliance against the School Segregation, together with Save the Children and CERMI (Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities), we have promoted the recognition of school segregation as a form of discrimination. In this sense, we welcome the fact that finally, following the approval of an amendment in the Senate, the law defines the problem of school segregation, an issue that seriously affects Roma people, and that it provides for the implementation of measures to prevent it.

Finally, we value the reference to the incorporation of knowledge and respect for the history of the Roma People into the educational curriculum.

Despite the significant progress made by this law, we regret that issues such as the protection and reparation of victims are not more adequately addressed and the measures or instruments to guarantee them are not adequately developed. Furthermore, the law provides for a regime of infractions and sanctions for discriminatory incidents, but it is ambiguous in its approach. Likewise, we regret that with regard to the application of ethnic or racial profiling by State security forces and private security agents, there is also no adequate regulation to eradicate and sanction these conducts.

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