Annual Report Discrimination 2015

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Discrimination and the Roma community, 2015
43. National. The media. TV. Direct discrimination. In August 2014, channel 4 television aired a documentary style
reality show (docu-reality) in which, once again, the main characters were Roma. We have been monitoring the
show since then (up to January 2015). One of the characters (a singer from the group called ‘Los Chunguitos’
said the following on air:
“No one on this earth would want to have a gay son or daughter... better to have a deformed child or
with some disease, anything but gay.”
The group was expelled from the programme for those comments.
In the aftermath of that incident, Twitter users disseminated this unfortunate comment and accused the Roma
community of being homophobic and racist.
The Department supported the complaint made with regard to these comments by the State Federation of
Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals (FELGTB) who, in their complaint, made it clear that they did NOT
identify the Roma community with homophobia but rather addressed their complaint exclusively to the person
who made that statement.
44. National. Internet. Direct discrimination. A news media published the following headline: “Five young people
arrested for raping a 20 year old girl at the Malaga fair.”
The story identified the suspects as being Roma. In this case, the mention of the Roma ethnic group sparked a
series of hateful comments towards the Roma community such as:
“It’s a plague that the Catholic Monarchs (reference to the historical figures of Ferdinand and Isabel) were
unable to exterminate. They get handouts from the town halls, social services, Caritas... With so much
support they should all be space engineers by now. It’s their DNA . They were the untouchables exiled
from India and Pakistan. They are only following their instincts just like their blood brothers in India.
Because this isn’t the first time these Gypsies have committed the deplorable act of gang-banging.”
The Department sent a letter of complaint and received a positive response from the digital newspaper in
question.
45. National. The media. Direct discrimination
co- detenidos-son-gotleu.html
This link ran an article under the following
headline: “National police officers were called
in the early hours of the morning yesterday
to handle a confrontation between blacks
and Gypsies in Son Gotleu.”
The story gives the impression that there is
a racial problem; the mention of colour and
race is irrelevant to the story since it was not
a racial conflict at all. These terms should be
avoided as they perpetuate stereotypes and
prejudices against these groups.
CASE 45