“The global history of relationships between emerging states and nomadic peoples is commonly a history of discrimination, persecution, violence, forced assimilation or containment...” Anne Sutherland, Professor of Anthropology
Some of the legal challenges for the Romani community stem from its traditional, nomadic and very insular culture - including official and personal identity linked to a fixed residence, legal name, and documents of personal identity, including birth certificates, drivers licenses, passports and identity cards. Beyond these basic needs, there remains a void in education of basic civil rights.
Many English-speakers still say that to defraud, swindle, or cheat someone is to "gyp" (short for “gypsy”) them. This sensational image of Roma as criminals is not supported by statistical analysis of court records, since conviction rates of Romani Americans are lower than rates of other ethnic Americans for rape and murder, and the conviction rate of Roma for theft is no higher than the rate for other Americans. Still, the stereotype exists and is often exploited to degrade the Romani community, and build prejudice against it.
Currently, we are working to establish close ties with the American Bar Association which will provide guidance to the community in understanding applicable laws and what needs to be done when faced with civil complaints, law enforcement inquiries, infractions and other penal charges.