7
ISSUES: Racial & Ethnic Discrimination
Chapter 1: Racism & discrimination
may prevent some Roma people
from accessing services for support
with mental health, sexual health,
and drug and alcohol misuse (EC,
2014). Infrequent contact with health
providers may also be exacerbating
the health problems of some Roma
patients (Social Marketing Gateway,
2013).
Although the Department of Health
in England pledged in 2012 to identify
gaps in data and research, and to
highlight interventions that lead to
positive health outcomes (in DCLG,
2012), concerns remain about the
extent to which NHS services collect
data on Gypsy, Traveller and Roma
patients (Aspinall, 2014).
Prisons
Gypsies, Roma or Travellers are
considerably
over-represented
in
prison. In 2013–14, 4% of the prison
population identified as Gypsy, Roma
or Traveller in the HMIP prisoner
survey, whereas only 0.1% of the
population identified as such in the
2011 census (HMIP, 2014).
The exact size of the population in
prison is not known because levels
of selfreporting were low and the
option to record a prisoners’ ethnicity
as ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’ was only
added to the Prison National Offender
Management Information System
monitoring system for the first time in
2011 (PPO, 2015).
Gypsies, Roma and Travellers were
more likely to report feeling unsafe
in prison (46%) compared with other
prisoners (33%), and more likely to
say they had been victimised by other
prisoners (36% compared with 23%)
and by staff (40% compared with 27%).
They were also more likely to report
that they been physically restrained
or had been in segregation in the
previous six months (14% compared
with 6%) (HMIP, 2014).
Their vulnerability in prison may
further be heightened by separation
from their families, high levels of
mental illness, lack of adequate mental
health support and not being able to
read or write (PPO, 2015).
Stigmatising treatment
Negative attitudes towards Gypsy,
Roma and Traveller communities were
still widely held.
Ö
According to the Spring 2014
Global Attitudes survey, 50% of
people in Britain reported having
an unfavourable view of Roma
(Pew Research Centre, 2014).
Ö
Discrimination and harassment of
Gypsies, Roma and Travellers was
common across Britain, not only
on the part of the general public
but also by the police and other
authorities (Lane, Spencer and
Jones, 2014).
Ö
Evidence from a study carried out
in Devon found that some people
from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller
communities had hidden their
ethnic identity in order to access
employment and services, and
others said their children were
bullied at school and that they
had been refused entry to pubs
and cinemas (Devon and Cornwall
Police, 2013).
Ö
Britain has failed to make progress
on all of the measures aimed at
fighting discrimination that are
part of the European Commission’s
Framework for National Roma
Integration (EC, 2013).
Hostility towards individuals and
groups on the basis of ethnicity is
often channelled through political
rhetoric and the media, which has
been criticised by human rights
monitoring bodies and highlighted by
the Leveson Inquiry:
Ö
The Irish Traveller Movement
in Britain provided numerous
examples of bias, racism and
stereotyping in the media in
relation to the reporting of Gypsy,
Roma and Traveller issues and
claimed that it was making the
integration of these communities
more difficult (Irish Traveller
Movement in Britain, 2012).
Ö
There were many examples
of ‘prejudicial or pejorative
references’ to particular races
or ethnicities in the press. For
example, in 2013 an opinion piece
in
The Spectator
described Gypsy,
Roma and Traveller people as
lazy, criminal and unintelligent.
The author Rod Liddle claimed
that usage of the terms ‘gyppo’
and ‘pikey’ were a “useful means
of lumping them all together”
(Liddle, 2013).
Ö
Channel 4’s series
Big Fat Gypsy
Weddings
has also been found
to have perpetuated negative
stereotypes.
In
2012,
the
broadcaster was criticised by the
Advertising Standards Agency
for an advertising campaign
which featured posters with the
words ‘Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier’.
The decision that the complaints
did not warrant investigation
was challenged by the Irish
Traveller Movement and eight
other complainants, and an
independent
review
of
the
agency’s decision led to the case
being re-opened. The Advertising
Standards Agency took advice
from the EHRC and upheld that the
adverts were offensive because
they were racist, denigrating and
portrayed Gypsies and Travellers
in a negatively stereotypical way.
It also stated that the adverts
were irresponsible because they
depicted negative stereotypes
of Gypsies and Travellers, and
endorsed prejudice against them
(Advertising Standards Agency,
2012).
March 2016
Ö
The above information is an
extract from the publication
England’s
most
disadvantaged
groups: Gypsies, Travellers and
Roma
. It is reprinted with kind
permission from the Equality and
Human Rights Commission. Please
visit
com for further information.
Ö
Adapted
from
.
e q u a l i t y h uma n r i g h t s . c om /
sites/default/files/ief_gypsies_
travellers_and_roma.pdf. Visit for
full references.
Ö
The copyright in the document
this publication has been adapted
from and all other intellectual
property rights in that material
are owned by, or licensed to,
the Commission for Equality
and Human Rights, known as
the Equality and Human Rights
Commission (“the EHRC”).
© Equality and Human Rights
Commission 2017
