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On November 18th, a seminar was held on “anti-gypsyism: key ways to prevent and combat it”, in which more than 100 people from 12 Spanish Regions and from various types of organisations and institutions participated. The event was proposed with two main objectives:
- Gain first-hand knowledge on the scope of anti-gypsyism in Spain and Europe and its consequences
- Exchange experiences and draw on lessons based on measures or actions put in place by different institutions and organizations to address the challenges of the fight against anti-gypsyism.
Anti-gypsyism reinforces the processes of social exclusion and prevents the exercise of the fundamental rights of the Roma population. It can be manifested in various ways, including discrimination, harassment or hate crimes. Although initiatives have been promoted in recent years to recognise and fight against anti-gypsyism which have led to advances, this is a persistent problem in Europe and Spain and, therefore, requires action from multiple approaches:
- Legal: assistance to victims and strategic litigation
- Awareness raising and training to key agents and society as a whole
- Knowledge and analysis: data collection and reports
After the debates and experiences shared in the seminar, the attendees prioritised the promotion of the following actions to combat anti-gypyism:
ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS
1. Sensitize and train legal operators
2. Have a specialised service for legal support and litigation
3. Reinforce alliances with the media
4. Support and encourage strategic litigation
5. Create alliances with key public actors
AWARENESS RAISING AND TRAINING
1. Combat segregation in general (especially in housing and education)
2. Promote training of key agents
3. Promote institutional awareness raising campaigns
4. Promote concrete awareness raising actions in social networks
REPORTING
1. Registers the complaints specifically as Anti-Gypsyism
2. Include hate crimes in police academy training
3. Encourage investigation and collection of valid evidence during the proceedings
4. Develop specific guidelines on how to collect data in the case of some profiles
5. Analyse the evolution of anti-gypsyism in social networks through the algorithm and analysis platform under development by the Ministry of Interior
Consult the summary document of the seminar to learn more about its development and conclusions.