12/12/2024
FSG
Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) presented today in Madrid its 20th Annual Report “Discrimination and the Roma Community” with the main topic dedicated to the analysis of the progress and challenges of policies to combat discrimination and antigypsyism in the last 20 years in Spain. The report will soon be available in English.
The report also includes the cases collected and dealt with by FSG in 2023 (384 cases), the current strategic litigation undertaken by the foundation, jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), good practices in the fight against discrimination and an annex of legislation and studies on antigypsyism.
The event was opened by Sara Giménez, Director General of Fundación Secretariado Gitano and Ana Redondo García, Minister for Equality of the Spanish Government, who assessed the progress made over the last two decades in terms of equal treatment and non-discrimination. Sara Giménez highlighted FSG's commitment in this area with the creation of the Department for Equality and Combatting Discrimination in 2015 and its work as the coordinating entity of the CEDRE (Council for the Elimination of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination) Assistance Service for Victims of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination.
Other key stakeholders also intervened, providing different approaches to anti-discrimination policies from the perspective of the Public Prosecutor's Office, police services, the Ministry of Equality, the legal defence of anti-Roma cases, and the media.
The event continued with a round table dedicated to listening to the testimonies of victims of anti-Roma discrimination who have been accompanied by FSG in recent years in successful strategic litigation in this area. These testimonies served to understand the personal and collective impact of this type of anti-Roma discriminatory acts on Roma individuals and families and the importance of litigating in these cases with good legal support for the victims.
The event was closed by Patricia Bezunartea, Director General for Family Diversity and Social Services, Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Protection and Agenda 2030, and Fernando Rey, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Valladolid and trustee of the FSG.
This year's report includes 384 cases of discrimination and antigypsyism, in the following areas: in media and internet malpractices, with a total of 63 cases; in social networks, with a total of 136 cases, many of them very serious hate speech against Roma people; in access to employment, with 32 cases; in access to goods and services, with 65 cases; in police services, with 11 cases; in education, with 27 cases; in housing, with 28 cases; in health, with 9; and in others (including the most extreme cases of hate crime), with 13 cases. The report also includes statistics on the evolution of cases by area over the last 20 years, with a total of 4 608 cases of discrimination collected and dealt with by the FSG since 2004.
Conclusions of the report
With regard to the reporting of cases, FSG notes two apparently contradictory trends. On the one hand, there is a greater awareness on the part of victims to report cases and a greater interest in defending their human rights. But, on the other hand, despite exposing cases and seeking support, in many cases people who have suffered these incidents do not want to take any action to complain or denounce: there is still a certain lack of trust in the authorities and state institutions when it comes to filing complaints or initiating legal proceedings.
Positive rulings in strategic litigation cases serve as an incentive and trigger more active complaint processes. FSG has reinforced its work in strategic litigation, bringing more cases of discrimination and anti-Roma hatred before the courts, and providing a solid legal defence and comprehensive support to victims throughout the legal proceedings.
As in previous years, many cases of intersectional discrimination have also been found, in which, in addition to Roma ethnicity, other situations of vulnerability of the victims have interfered. Gender is one of the most common factors of intersectional discrimination; in fact, Roma women face very complex social barriers, which is why they need specialised attention and accompaniment. On the other hand, the cases of anti-Roma intersectional discrimination against children, adolescents and people with disabilities, especially in the field of education, are relevant and alarming. The report includes 31 cases of intersectional discrimination.
Finally, the report highlights that the approval of the Spanish Comprehensive Law for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination in 2022 offers a broader framework of protection against discrimination. However, FSG regrets that these regulatory advances are not being implemented in a fully effective manner, given that the Independent Authority for Equal Treatment has not yet been created, despite the fact that two years have passed since the six-month deadline stipulated by law for its creation.
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