Other publications and documents

Analysis: “Speech containing offence, prejudice and hate against Roma on the social media platform Facebook”

This analysis presents data from a secondary semi-automated processing that relies on a critical review of the performance of algorithms. The aim is, on the one hand, to present more reliable information about offensive speech against Roma on the social media, and on the other hand, to identify weaknesses and typical gaps/errors of the algorithms used for automatic processing.

Research report: Civic participation and civic values among children and young people from vulnerable school communities

How active are young people from vulnerable school communities? What challenges they find exciting and what are their dreams? According to data from a study by the “Open Society – Sofia” Institute, complex and multi-layered trends are observed among students in grades VII-XII from vulnerable school communities in Bulgaria: the overall picture shows a sufficiently high degree of civic energy and readiness to participate in public life . In practice, the degree of civic activity of children and youths from vulnerable school communities is not lower than that of the average adult citizen in Bulgaria.

Impact Assessment Report under the project “Scaling up a sustainable model communities living in non-regulated areas to improve their living conditions – SCALE IT UP”

The Impact Assessment Report has been drafted under the project “Scaling up a sustainable model communities living in non-regulated areas to improve their living conditions – SCALE IT UP”. The project focuses on the need for improving the knowledge and competencies with respect to housing issues and ensuring equal access to public services among municipal staff and contributes to their active involvement in the process of overcoming the existing stereotypes related to the Roma communities and building mutual trust.

REPORT: Problems with the equal treatment of accused persons in pre-trial proceedings in Bulgaria

Problems in the criminal justice system in Bulgaria have disparate impact on particular groups. This applies to both police custody and pre-trial proceedings. Bulgaria is unique in the disproportionately high number of Roma people either accused or convicted in criminal proceedings. Data obtained in this research allows us to measure the unequal treatment of, as well as the disparate effects that provisions, measures and policies have on the three main ethnic groups in Bulgaria (Bulgarians, ethnic Turks and Roma), as well as on foreign nationals, women and juveniles.

Report: Combatting discrimination through enhanced access to justice in Croatia and Bulgaria

In Bulgaria and Croatia, Roma routinely experience discrimination, usually fuelled by negative attitudes and prejudices, in a variety of areas of their lives from an early age. Despite the high number of well documented occurrences, incidents of discrimination typically go unreported. Roma often think that it is not worth reporting their case as it would not change anything, while others fear that the situation would only become worse. See more.

Roma Early Childhood Inclusion in Bulgaria (RECI+) 

The Roma Early Childhood Inclusion in Bulgaria (RECI+) report has been prepared by Foundation Open Society Institute – Sofia and focuses on the situation in education and care, healthcare and social services for the Bulgarian children of Roma ethnicity aged 0 to 8. The report was drafted at the initiative and with the support of Open Society Foundations, the Roma Education Fund and UNICEF and is part of a series of similar surveys conducted in the countries from Central and Eastern Europe.

Bridging the gap between Roma youth and business – unlocking the hidden potential for the labor market

The notion that Roma do not work has long been disproved by the trends in the labor market in Bulgaria. The data for this is there: between 2011 and 2019, the share of working Roma has doubled. This is shown by a nationally representative study from 2019 ocommissioned by the Trust for a Social Achievement, dedicated to educational achievements in the Roma community.

How It Started, How It is Going: Media Literacy Index 2022

The Media Literacy Index is produced within the European Policies Initiative (EuPI) of the Open Society Institute – Sofia. The index assesses the resilience potential to fake news in 41 European countries, using indicators for media freedom, education and trust in people. As the indicators have different importance, they are assigned different weight in the model.

Publication: Roma in Bulgaria

Anyone who has tried to research, write or think about the situation of the Roma in Bulgaria has come across an increasing amount of information, which is often fragmented and contradictory. How many and...