Report Launch: Shaming within Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Communities

Immediate release
Date: 13th December 2021

REPORT LAUNCH: SHAMING WITHIN GYPSY, ROMA, AND TRAVELLER COMMUNITIES

The Traveller Movement today launches ‘Under the Magnifying Glass’ – a report on shaming within the Gypsy and Traveller communities’ to coincide with the 16 Days of Action against VAWG.

This report is based on Romany Gypsy, Roma, and Irish Traveller people’s thoughts and experiences around shaming within their own communities and racism within wider society.

‘Shaming’ is a form of social control that communities use to monitor their members behaviour. Social media has brought this form of control to another level with devastating consequences. Too many young people have taken their own lives because of shaming.

Christina Kerrigan (Traveller Movement domestic abuse awareness trainer) says:

“The shaming that goes on in our community, which results in the suicides of many, is our biggest shame. It is no longer enough for us to cry and share rants of rage on Facebook when we find our young people hanging at the end of a rope or slipping away from us on an overdose of drugs. Instead we must stop and think about how we are contributing to this cycle of shame.”

There is an urgent need for social media platforms, public health bodies and schools to do more to make sure young people are safe from online shaming, revenge porn and racist bullying, and their tragic consequences.

Josie O’Driscoll (CEO of Herts GATE and Report Racism GRT) says:

“Our online reporting website Report Racism GRT has seen a remarkable rise in young people reporting online abuse from across all social media platforms. Online shaming and racist bullying are killing our young people. We urgently need social media platforms and authorities to work together with us to stop this before even more lives are lost.”

Read the full report here

ENDS

Contact details

Jenni Berlin, Research & Partnerships Manager partnershipsmanager@travellermovement.org.uk

T: 020 7607 2002 W: /

Notes to Editor

The Traveller Movement (TM) is a national community development policy and voice charity who campaign against discrimination, promote inclusion, participation and community engagement for the Irish Traveller and Gypsy communities in Britain. TM is proud to work in partnership with the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities together with service providers and policy makers across the UK to better promote social inclusion and community cohesion. Visit website here: /