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Discrimination and the Roma community, 2015
In response to that the girl made the following comments:
“Gypsies, everything is for the Gypsies and the immigrants. Fuckin Gypsies. But wasn’t this published
on the web page?” To which the FSG worker explained that that was an error made by the SOC that
they were trying to correct.
19.
Sabadell.
Dignity.
Direct discrimination.
In 2013 a Roma woman was working at a private home. A story
appeared in the press about a Roman man killed by a Chinese man in Sabadell. Following a series of insulting
comments made by the employer about the Roma community, the woman told her that she herself was
Roma.
From that point forward, the woman had the feeling that her relationship with her employer had changed. She
was more distrustful of her now that she knew she was Roma and would ask her about earrings she couldn’t find
and started to leave cash on the table to “test” her.
The labour relationship ended with wrongful dismissal after the worker went on sick leave.
The worker did not want to take any subsequent action.
20.
Valencia.
Dignity.
Hate speech.
Direct discrimination. An FSG worker told us that at an Evangelical church
service one of the people told the congregation that she was in need of a home and employment to which an-
other person told her that the rent in the Juan XXIII area was the cheapest. Her response to this suggestion was:
“I wouldn’t want to live there because there are lots of Gypsies and you know what they’re like.”
The worker told her that she herself was Roma and that these prejudices and generalisations against Roma were
out of place. The person then commented that she had had a bad experience with Roma to which the worker
responded that her experience was with certain individuals and that not all Roma act the same way and that she
shouldn’t generalise since not all Roma are the same.
She than informed the woman about the FSG’s Acceder programme since she was in need of full-time employ-
ment.
Today that women is an Acceder programme participant; and she did apologise to the FSG worker for her
previous attitude.
21.
Valencia.
Dignity.
Hate speech.
Direct discrimination. An FSG worker told us that she was having dinner at a
cafeteria when she overheard a conversation in which two people were making disparaging comments about
Roma such as: “you’re acting like a Gypsy, only good for selling and stealing”.
The worker didn’t get the chance to say anything because the people who had made the comment left soon
thereafter. Nevertheless, she felt offended by these discriminatory comments against the Roma community.
Just another example of negative stereotypes and prejudices towards Roma.
22.
Don Benito.
Others.
Direct discrimination.
The FSG coordinator and the labour counsellor at the San Benito
office met with the owner of the salon with which they had signed an agreement for a final training course. The
salon was called: “gel nails.”
They met with her to renegotiate the final price of the course as the salon failed to comply with the agreed
objectives, and to inform her of the complaints received from beneficiaries with regard to the treatment they
received by teachers on the course.