Symbolic compliance and everyday racism: Understanding microaggressions and hate crimes against Roma in Romania

This article investigates the manifestations of microaggressions, hate speech, and hate crimes targeting Roma individuals in Romania, situating them within the broader European framework of anti-discrimination and victim protection policies. The study is based on a nationally representative sociological survey, conducted in late 2023 by the Research Institute for Quality of Life (RIQL), Romanian Academy. The findings reveal a persistent gap between Romania’s formal alignment with European Union (EU) regulations and the implementation of protective measures. Despite public awareness of anti-discrimination legislation and compared to the general population, Roma respondents report significantly lower levels of trust in law enforcement and criminal justice institutions and show limited willingness to report microaggressions or hate incidents they were exposed to. Regression analyses highlight the influence of institutional trust, educational attainment, and social intolerance on perceived vulnerability and reporting behaviour. The outcomes underscore the structural nature of anti-Roma discrimination and the need for integrated policy interventions combining institutional reform, civic education, and improved access to justice. This study enriches victimology and ethnic studies by empirically linking hate incidents and discriminatory micro-level experiences with macro-level institutional trust within a post-communist context.