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Discrimination and the Roma community, 2015
12.
Lugo.
Press.
Direct discrimination.
The El Progreso newspaper from Lugo ran a story under the following
headline: “Police arrest a squatter cited to appear before the court to make a statement.”
The article mentions the ethnic group of the alleged squatter and publishes his initials.
The same article includes a public statement made by a woman with three young children who claimed on
several occasions that “they were living like that because no one wanted to rent them a flat due to the fact that
they were Gypsies”.
13.
Galicia.
Press.
Direct discrimination.
The Voz de Lugo newspaper published an article under the headline:
“They wouldn’t let me study because I’m Roma, but I want better for my daughter.”
The article describes the experiences of 23 young Roma women for whom education is a priority. It cites some
of the courses they attended, for instance a self-confidence and personal autonomy course run by the FSG in
Lugo to improve their CVs and employability.
This article sparked a litany of negative comments inciting rejection, stereotypes and prejudices against Roma
women.
Following are just a few of the comments found on the news forum:
“I don’t believe a word they say.”
“They want it for free. Who can believe them? They’re great at making things up and getting people
to feel sorry for them.”
The Department contacted the administrators and all of the participants in these discussions to request their
help in improving the image of Roma women.
14.
Mérida.
Social networks.
Direct discrimination.
The Extremadura FSG office sent us a screen shot of a dis-
criminatory tweet against the Roma community in general and the Romanian Roma in particular.
The tweet stated as follows: “They’re Gypsies, not Romanians. They’re not the same thing!” There is a photo-
graph of a poor Romanian Roma family next to one of a rich non-Roma Romanian family insinuating that Romani-
an Roma are not Romanian citizens.
The logo used by the author of the
tweet is a neo-Nazi symbol (the
Celtic cross).
CASE 14