Racism and anti-Roma hatred kill, threaten lives and directly affect the health of members of our Romani communities.
Among the data provided by the FRA, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) it is particularly striking that Roma in the EU, some six million people, live on average ten years less than the general population; or that 80% are at risk of poverty, compared with 17% of the total population, one of the aspects that has not improved since 2016.
According to the Eurobarometer, more than half of respondents say that discrimination is widespread in their country on the grounds of being Romani (65%), skin colour (61%), ethnic origin (60%), gender identity (being transgender, 57%) or sexual orientation (54%). Around one in five respondents (21%) say they have personally felt discriminated against or experienced harassment in the past 12 months. The most frequently mentioned forms of discrimination or harassment are based on age, gender, ‘political opinions’, ‘socioeconomic situation’ and ‘general physical appearance’. Public spaces and work are the main places where discrimination or harassment occurs.
A large body of psychological research shows that discrimination can exacerbate stress. Stress related to discrimination is also linked to mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, including in children. The American Psychological Association (APA) highlights the connection between discrimination and stress, together with the resulting effects on relationships, employment and overall health.
If we analyse the data on people who have reported discrimination on the grounds of skin colour, ethnic origin, gender identity and/or sexual orientation, we will probably find a high proportion of Romani women among them. The discrimination experienced by Romani women is intersectional: for being Romani, for being women, in some cases for being migrants, for their skin colour, for the way they dress and, above all, for their Romani identity.
As a result, the 65% of people who said they had felt discriminated against for being Romani would increase if the percentages of those experiencing intersectional discrimination were added.
Above all, however, anti-Roma racism is institutional and structural.
For more than 30 years, Spanish and European policymakers have developed policies for the social inclusion and participation of Roma people. These have been insufficient to repair the harm caused by more than 600 years of anti-Roma decrees, persecution, racism and attempts at extermination such as the Great Gypsy Round-up and the Samudaripen.
The failure of European public policies is linked to a lack of real commitment and willingness to combat anti-Roma discrimination. Institutions practise discrimination and are sources of inequality.
The fact that anti-Roma racism ranks as the leading prejudice and form of discrimination in Member States shows that public policies for the social, economic and political inclusion of Romani people amount to institutional hypocrisy.
It is almost three years since the Congress of Deputies approved the State Pact against Anti-Roma Racism. Is there a monitoring and evaluation plan? When will the complaints of Roma people who are victims of direct acts of discrimination begin to be addressed?
The conclusions of the latest ECRI report on Spain, published in 2021, criticised the failure to implement measures to prevent previously identified discrimination against Roma people.
A clear example of institutional anti-Roma racism is policymaking from the perspective of equality.
Institutional racism fuelled by historical discrimination for more than six centuries
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