86% of Roma do not report cases of discrimination

86% of Roma in Bulgaria do not report cases of discrimination and 72% of Roma do not know if there is a law prohibiting discrimination. This is clear from the report “Discrimination against Roma in Croatia and Bulgaria”, which was prepared by Center Amalipe (for Bulgaria), the Information and Legal Centre in Croatia and Minority Rights Group Europe (MRGE). The report was produced between March and June 2021 and summarises and analyses research conducted in the two countries respectively. The aim of the study was to identify different areas of discrimination against Roma and to identify barriers to their access to legal aid. It was carried out within the framework of the ERELA project (Equality for Roma through Enhanced Access to Legal Aid, No 963284), funded by the European Union Programme on Rights, Equality and Citizenship (2014-2020).
The results in Bulgaria and Croatia are similar, although in Bulgaria only 37% of Roma are aware of at least one equality body, while in Croatia this percentage is 45%. Despite the public perception of how aware Roma are of their rights and how certain organisations benefit from this, the results of the survey conducted in Bulgaria show that 84% of Roma do not know of any organisation offering support or advice to people who have suffered discrimination, and as stated above 86% do not even report discrimination when they encounter it. In addition to the main areas of most frequent discrimination (education, housing, employment and health), the report reports an increase in antigypsyism and hate speech. Here are some of the findings:
Education. School segregation of Roma is still widespread in Bulgaria. The educational status of Roma is significantly lower than that of both the Bulgarian majority and the other large minority, the Turks. However, there has been an increase in the percentage of Roma youth graduating from secondary and higher education, according to the Trust for Social Alternatives;
Housing. Spatial segregation of the Roma population is common in both countries. It is manifested in poor infrastructure and transport, lack of regulation and legal permits to build decent housing, lack of utilities and infrastructure such as electricity, water, street lighting, garbage collection and many other facilities necessary for daily life, and ultimately leads to social isolation;
Employment. Discrimination in the workplace manifests itself at different levels in Bulgaria: before employment, when addressing the advertisement to certain groups and during the employment relationship;
Healthcare. Discrimination against Roma women in accessing social services is very common. In Bulgaria, Roma women are often discriminated against when accessing health services. According to a number of young women, midwives at the hospital place pregnant women of Roma origin in separate rooms in the obstetrics and gynaecology ward;
Antigypsyism and hate speech. In Bulgaria, hate speech against Roma is also spread by high-level politicians;
Denial of access to discos, bars, restaurants, etc.
The above is also linked to increased distrust of state institutions, lack of information on access to legal aid and lack of knowledge of available legal remedies. However, the most serious obstacle the report identifies as Roma access to legal aid is fear of repercussions, which is directly correlated to the problems identified above
In addition to the detailed analysis of existing reports, analyses and other documents, a total of 65 participants were interviewed as part of the study in Bulgaria.
The report was presented during a round table, which was attended, in addition to the project partners, by Dan Doughty, Head of the Roma Policy Team at DG Justice and Consumers of the European Commission, Eva Zhecheva from the team of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, Elka Bojova from the Commission for Protection against Discrimination, representatives of civil society organisations, mediators, lawyers.
At the end of the meeting the participants took part in a discussion related to the results of the report, and during the discussion there were questions to the panelists. The questions were related to the results and how the responsible institutions could react, what are the ways to inform the Roma community about reporting cases of discrimination, institutional discrimination and actions to change public opinion.

Funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020)