Over 50 percent of Romanians wouldn’t vote for a woman president, while 60 percent wouldn’t accept a relative who has a different sexual orientation, shows a recent study presented by the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD).

The research shows that most Romanians wouldn’t vote for people with different religion or sexual orientation, or with disabilities, for important positions in local, central or European administration.

Also, over half  of the respondents wouldn’t vote a woman or a man under 39 to be president of Romania. Only ten percent would vote for a person with different sexual orientation, while only 14 percent would give their votes to a Roma candidate.

Moreover, 60 percent of Romanians wouldn’t accept to be related to a person with different sexual orientation, 58 percent wouldn’t accept a Roma as a relative, 52 percent - a Hungarian or an immigrant, 50 percent - a person infected with HIV/AIDS, 44 percent - a person with disabilities, 42 percent - a person of another religion or with a chronic disease, 36 percent - a person with no income.

But only two out of ten respondents ever felt discriminated, mainly based on age (30 percent), social status (28 percent), income (26 percent), based on the fact that they come from rural areas (18 percent) and ethnicity (18 percent).

In the respondents’ opinion, the most discriminated against groups are the Roma, people with HIV/AIDS, those with disabilities, drug addicts, sexual minorities and children placed in institutions.

Seven out of ten respondents believe that is more difficult for Roma people and persons infected with HIV to find a job, while over half of them think that this is also difficult for people from rural areas and immigrants.

Some 20 percent of the Romanians surveyed believe that national minorities represent a threat for the country, 31 percent think that they represent more of a problem, while 29 percent believe that they are neither not a problem, not an advantage.

However, almost 40 percent think that minorities have a positive contribution in certain regions and for certain jobs.

Some 20 percent of the respondents describe Roma people as being thieves and criminals, 11 percent think they are lazy and indifferent, while eight percent see them as being uneducated and uncivilized.  The main solutions for Roma’s integration in the Romanian society would be education and better access to the labor market, shows the survey.

Most of the Romanians said they’ve heard of the discrimination phenomenon, while 67 percent believe that it is very common in Romania.

The respondents think that creating educational programs and applying stricter fines would help prevent discrimination.

The study was conducted between October 35 and November 16, 2013 on a sample of 1,415 people.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com