Only 31 percent of Romanian citizens know their rights in case they become victims of discrimination or harassment, according to the “Discrimination in the European Union of 2008” survey, commissioned by the European Commission. Most often, discrimination has a sexual or ethnical nature.
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According to the “Discrimination in the European Union of 2008” survey, commissioned by the European Commission, most people who know what to do in case they are faced with a form of discrimination belong to the 40 – 45 years of age bracket, that is 35%, and those who know least about this belong to the over 55 years of age category.
Although most Romanians declare they know their rights in case they become victims of discrimination or harassment actions, the Romanian percentage is lower than the European average. “It is important to underline that 16% of the Romanians answered that their relevant level of knowledge varies from one case to another”.
Both in Romania and in the European Union as a whole, there are more men than women who declare they know their rights. As in the case of the European Union, people who finished their education at 20 years of age or later tend to be more aware of their rights. It is less likely for Romanians over 55 to know their rights, a situation which, as pointed out in the survey, is valid at the EU level as well.
The results of the “Discrimination in the European Union of 2008” survey also pinpoint the fact that the discrimination most widely declared by Romanians refers to sexual orientation, 45%, followed by ethnic origin, 40%, disabilities and age, each 30% respectively, while in the European Union most citizens place ethnic discrimination on pole position, 62%, followed by sexual orientation, 51% and disabilities, 45%.
According to this survey, during one year, one out of 10 Romanians felt discriminated against or harassed, compared to a higher proportion at the EU level.
Who are our neighbors
Also, the document commissioned by the European Commission highlighted the fact that Romanians are most reluctant to the idea of having a neighbor with disabilities, of a different confession, different ethnic origin or sexual orientation, the same applying at the Community level as well.
On the other hand, in the European Union, Romanians get along best with the ideas promoted by a political leader belonging to a religious minority or by a woman.
Nevertheless, besides this situation involving people under 30 years of age, the Romanians who took part in this survey declared to be less content than the average European citizen when it comes to the political opinions coming from the highest level in Romania.
Sufficient efforts for fighting discrimination
Regarding efforts made to combat discrimination, 51% of Romanians consider enough efforts are being made and 36% consider more should be done in this respect, whilst at an EU level only 47% of citizens consider the approaches initiated in this respect to be sufficient and 48% deem them insufficient.
“More than half of the Romanians declared to have a positive opinion on the efforts made at present in the fight against all forms of discrimination. Significantly less Romanians declare that not enough efforts to combat discriminations are made, compared to respondents from other European countries. It is nevertheless worth pointing out that more than one Romanian in ten chose the no answer option. Unlike the general EU situation, more Romanian men than women consider that not enough efforts are made in this respect.
Furthermore, Romanians are inclined to consider that current efforts aimed at fighting all forms of discrimination belong to the 15 to 24 age bracket and to the category of those who finished their education between the ages of 16 and 19” underlines the survey.
For equal opportunities
Considering all the aspects, most Romanians are in favour of equal opportunities in the labour field. Still, compared to the European average, Romanians are far less in favour of equal opportunities when talking about criteria such as: disabilities, age and especially sexual orientation.
According to this survey, half of the Romanians are in favour of equal opportunities for people who meet these criteria. Also, 48% of the Romanians declared that their friends of a different ethnic origin are different from them, compared to a lower percentage to a similar question registered in the European Union as a whole – 55%.
Who are our friends?
The initiators of the survey point out to the fact that, compared to other Europeans, there is a lower possibility for a Romanian to have a friend or an acquaintance with physical disabilities or who is a homosexual.
“Indeed, almost no Romanian declared to have such a friend. Nevertheless, is much more likely for a Romanian rather than the average European citizen to have a Roma as a friend. Both in Romania and in EU, it is less likely for the elderly and for those less educated to have such friends” the survey underlined.
“Discrimination in the European Union of 2008” is part of the “For diversity, against discrimination” campaign that takes place in all 27 EU member states and that was initiated by the European Commission. (DIVERS – www.divers.ro)