Violence against Roma on the rise across EU

The director of the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) testified at a hearing in Washington DC on February 16, 2012 stating that violence against Roma is on the rise across Europe.

This according to the ERRC:

A recent European Union Survey on Minorities and Discrimination highlights that on average one in five Roma respondents were victims of racially motivated personal crime at least once in the previous 12 months. 81% of Roma who indicated they were victims of assault, threat or serious harassment considered that their victimisation was racially motivated.

An ERRC report in 2011 found that the state rarely achieved successful prosecutions in cases of violence against Roma.

Read more on the ERRC website.