Annual Report Discrimination 2015

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Discrimination and the Roma community, 2015
HATENTO, observatory on hate crimes against
homeless people. RAIS Foundation
The Hatento Observatory aims to bring together the
know-how and resources of several organisations
meeting the needs of the homeless and defending
human rights in order to generate a reliable body of
knowledge on this topic and be able to take action
against hate crime. This observatory is coordinated by
the RAIS Foundation and its members are: ASSÍS Centre
d´Acollida, Bokatas Association, RAIS Association Eu-
skadi, UNIJEPOL and the Zubietxe Association.
Generating specific and reliable knowledge on the
scope and mechanisms underlying the peculiar nature
of hate crimes against the homeless has always been a
priority for the Hatento Observatory which conducted
the first research project on this phenomenon. 47.1%
of those interviewed say that they suffered at least
one incident of crime related to peniaphobia during their
time of homelessness.
The Hatento Observatory has published diverse mate-
rial to help professionals and the society in general to
understand the reality faced by homeless persons and
to shed light on the scope and impact of hate crime. All
of these materials are available at:
It is very important to remember that one’s right to
housing is directly related to quality of life, security and
health and is therefore intertwined with all other fun-
damental rights. A democratic society cannot allow a
group of its citizens to go by the wayside.