Annual Report 2014 - Discrimination and the Roma community

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Cases of discrimination. Conclusions and recommendations
1. The main cause of social rejection
of the Roma community:
Negative social image
In most of the reported cases of discrimination, we
find that discriminatory behaviour is caused by asso-
ciating the Roma community with widespread preju-
dices that are simply not true, i.e. they do not corre-
spond to the heterogeneous nature of the communi-
ty. In the cases registered we found that the reasons
given by the alleged discriminators (businesspeople,
real estate agencies, homeowners, discotheque man-
agers, shopkeepers, security guards, etc.) to deny
equal access to Roma in accordance with their rights,
are based on engrained notions of Roma as people
who: “cheat, steal, do not want to work and who are
dangerous, criminals, illiterate”, etc. These are expres-
sions that people in our society use loosely when re-
ferring to this minority; a form of unconscious racism,
internalised in speech, in the modus operandi of our
society and, worst of all, it is tolerated. In this regard
we would stress that the latest edition of the RAE
(Royal Academy of the Spanish Language) Dictionary
contributes to the association of this group with il-
licit behaviour. It replaced the 4th definition of the
word “Gitano” which used to read “one who cheats or
acts deceitfully,” with a new definition, i.e. “trapacero”
which, according to the 23rd edition of the dictio-
nary, means “the use of cunning, deceit and lies to
achieve a goal.” The word comes from “trapaza” which
means “a misleading and unlawful act used to gain ad-
vantage in a purchase, sale or exchange”).
Notably, over 35% of the 1073 cases recorded in the
course of this decade of work are in the field of the
media and internet. The media 1 help raise awareness in
our society and produce the images we have of reali-
ty. Headlines on news events which mention and even
insist on the ethnic group of the suspect, contribute
to the association of an entire community with an il-
1 We would highlight the statement made by the Council of Europe’s Human
Rights Commissioner, Nils Muizieks on 24 October 2013: “Such irresponsible
reporting can have tremendous effects on the lives of millions of Roma
and fuel already widespread violent anti-Roma movements. Although the
Roma are no more inclined to criminal behaviour than anybody else, media
insistence on mentioning ethnicity in news reports gives credence to the
myth that Roma are by nature criminals. This is not only false, but also
dangerous as it risks heightening the already tense relations between the
Roma and the majority population all over Europe. The propagation of such
a negative image also harms integration efforts: How can we expect the
Roma to integrate in our societies if the media do not miss an opportunity
to remind them that they are unwanted?
I call on all journalists involved in the coverage of these cases to step back
and examine whether mentioning ethnicity was really necessary, whether
the best interests of the child, including the right to privacy, have been
respected and whether the presumption of innocence has been upheld.”
licit act that may have been committed by one of its
members. Words such as “reyerta” (brawl), “patriarch”,
“clan”, etc. used to describe an event where refer-
ence is made to the Roma ethnic group, and TV pro-
grammes such as “Palabra de Gitano” (Roma word of
honour), contribute to perpetuating the social stigma
on this minority, a skewed image which is a far cry
from the heterogeneous reality of this community. It
is extremely important for the media to refrain from
including ethnicity in their reports of events. A per-
son’s ethnic group is not relevant information insofar
as it does not contribute to readers’ understanding of
a news story but does do terrible harm to the image
of the Roma community.
To help raising awareness among media professionals,
the FSG2 has put together training guides for journalists
with the collaboration of professionals from this sector
committed to combating discrimination. The media and
the entities that are familiar with the reality of the Roma
community must work side by side to put an end to
the spread of material encouraging the social rejection
of this minority.
The use of social networks and the Internet to further
these prejudices is bad enough, but what is truly wor-
risome is that some of the cases recorded cross the
line of discrimination and enter the realm of incitement
to hatred and hate speech. In this regard, the Spanish
government must provide for agile and effective legal
measures to put an end to the dissemination of this sort
of material that violates the right to equality; web page
managers must also be encouraged to eliminate this
content. The FSG has learned from experience that a
positive response is often received from forum admin-
istrators responsible for web pages, etc. when they are
contacted directly. For instance, when a complaint is
made with regard to discriminatory material published,
many media eliminate it immediately.
In the light of this reality, now is the time to join forc-
es to do everything we can to raise public awareness,
a task in which the media play a fundamental role. We
must put an end to the negative generalizations that
tarnish the image of this minority. If prejudices and
stereotypes are allowed to go on unchecked, it will
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