Romania ranks last at EU level and 72nd
\nglobally in terms of equality between women and men, according to data made
\npublic by the World Economic Forum. While many women receive discriminate
\ntreatment at their workplace or while job-hunting, few report the
\ndiscrimination and abuse they are confronted with. Discrimination is also a
\nreality for the elderly and the disabled. In today’s edition we will learn more
\nabout the Anti-Discrimination Coalition, a free online judicial assistance
\nprogramme for people facing discrimination in Romania.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
One of the most serious forms of
\ndiscrimination in Romania regards the treatment of women. In the absence of a
\nworking social protection system, they make up the most vulnerable category.
\nWomen are often forced to stay at home and look after the elder or younger
\nmembers of their family. This situation hinders their social and professional
\nlife, limits their liberties and opportunities and leads to depression,
\nloneliness and low self-esteem. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Discrimination is a complex issue, affecting
\nseveral categories of people, and the European legislation deals extensively
\nwith this phenomenon. Dana Ududeac, a legal expert specialising in
\nanti-discrimination, says anti-discrimination legislation was translated into
\nnational law in Romania in 2000 under a Government ordinance. She told us that
\nmost people seeking help from the Anti-Discrimination Coalition often found it
\nhard to define discrimination from a legal point of view:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Discrimination has four key elements. It
\nimplies different treatment of people in similar or comparable circumstances
\nbased on a preferred set of criteria, such as ethnicity, religion, political
\nviews, etc, and which results in violating those people’s rights. To start
\nwith, discrimination is assessed using various perceptions and attitudes, as
\nwell as via a phenomenon we call ‘social distance’. One such question we would
\nask someone to assess discrimination is ‘Would you sit at the same table with a
\nRoma person?’ Because they do not understand the phenomenon of discrimination,
\nmany Romanians believe they do not discriminate against people. At the same
\ntime, however, we notice that they put a great deal of ‘distance’ between
\nthemselves and other categories of people. In Romania, social categories that
\nare mostly discriminated against include the disabled, HIV- or AIDS-infected
\npeople, lesbian and gay people and intravenous drug users.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Anti-Discrimination Coalition, with ten
\naffiliated organisations, took part in the drafting of the 2015-2015 strategy
\nto combat discrimination. The strategy also benefits from the contribution of
\nthe National Council for Combating Discrimination and civil society
\norganisations. Teodora Rotaru, who is responsible for public relations and
\ncommunication with the Anti-Discrimination Coalition, explains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In the next few months, we plan to come up
\nwith a report entitled ‘Access to Justice’. In this report, we will assess the
\nefficiency of the current methods to fight and prevent discrimination and
\nwhether people find it easy to solve their problems in court or through the
\nNational Council for Combating Discrimination. The next step after drawing up
\nthe report is to approach the relevant authorities with a view to improving the
\nlegal framework and in particular the anti-discrimination practices of the
\ninstitutions in charge. Anti-discrimination should be a goal for every minister
\nand every body and institution that interacts with society, from the Ombudsman
\nto the local employment inspectorates and the people providing training to
\nprofessional groups such as lawyers and teachers, so that everyone should
\nunderstand that each of us has the fundamental responsibility to ensure
\nequality for all. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Anti-Discrimination Coalition also has a
\nwebsite, antidiscriminare.ro, where people who believe they are victims of
\ndiscrimination or who want to know more about discrimination can post their
\nmessages and receive basic legal advice or information related to their
\nproblem. Dana Ududeac, who is a legal expert on anti-discrimination,
\ntold us about two such cases handled by the Anti-Discrimination Coalition:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
One example
\ninvolved the Accept Organisation, which defends and promotes the rights of the
\nLGBT community, and took place at the screening of a gay-related film in 2013
\nat the Cinema Hall of the Romanian Peasant Museum. A large group of people
\nvoicing far-right views and driven by hatred made threats against the public
\nand blocked the screening of the film. While looking into the case, we came across
\nan interesting fact, namely that the more serious forms of discrimination are
\nconsidered criminal offences. Another example involves a pregnant woman
\ninfected with HIV. In such cases, the World Health Organisation and the
\nRomanian Health Ministry recommend delivery by C-section at 38 weeks of
\ngestation. At the time, there was only one hospital in Bucharest where this
\ntype of surgery could be performed, but the woman was denied admission because
\nof her HIV infection. She spent eight days in the hospital’s hallway because
\nthe medical staff lacked the facilities to avoid the transmission of the virus,
\nputting the lives of the mother and the unborn baby at risk. It all ended well
\nand the woman received the medical services she needed. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nRomania has made significant progress as regards
\nthe legislation in the field of racial discrimination and intolerance. The
\nEuropean Commission against Racism and Intolerance has analysed the progress
\nmade since the publication in 2014 of its recommendations on combating discrimination.
\nThe conclusion is that Romania needs to consolidate the training of judges,
\nprosecutors and law-enforcement officials on the criminal legal framework aimed
\nat fighting racism. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance is
\nthe Council of Europe’s independent human
\nrights monitoring body specialised in combating intolerance and discrimination
\nand providing recommendations to member states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania is last in the EU and 72nd in the world in terms of gender equality according to a World Economic Forum report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":141612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43501,34951,116464],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-141611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-antidiscriminare-ro","tag-discrimination","tag-romania-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n