Perception: Roma are both drug dealers and drug addicts. This is the outcome of the drug culture within Roma communities.

Reality: Drug dealing and using are not a part of Roma culture. Such activities should be regarded as symptomatic of the hardships Roma must face such as poverty, barriers to employment, homelessness, and legislative gaps. In addition, Roma do not have adequate access to treatment or harm-reduction programs.

Aldina Denić (28),
Human Rights Activist and President of the Young Roma Association

“I graduated from elementary school in Vitez where I was an excellent student. I then enrolled in the high school for pharmaceutical technicians in Nova Bila. I was the only Roma woman in my class, so the school waved my tuition fees. From the time I started high school in 2005 until I graduated, I volunteered in a Roma association where I worked on pre-school education for Roma children who are getting ready to start school. After I graduated in 2010, I enrolled at the Pedagogical Faculty in Sarajevo, Department for Pedagogical Education. During my studies, I continued my volunteer work with the Citizens’ Association for Addiction Prevention (NARKO-NE) where I worked on the cases of young Roma who were on the streets and addicted to drugs. I felt that this category of young people was the most vulnerable and needed the most help. There is a prejudice that all Roma are criminals, drug dealers and drug addicts and I wanted to combat the prejudice by volunteering for this association so that I could show people that these are sporadic cases involving young people who are sick and need our help. These cases exist in every society, but the Roma have been stigmatized as a population of drug addicts, and criminals. I also worked at the OSCE Mission to BiH field office in Travnik as a young Roma expert of ​Vitez affairs. In 2011, I founded the Young Roma Association for which I serve as the president. The association’s mission is to fight prejudice and discrimination against Roma children and young people. The association also aims to protect human rights with a special focus on the rights of Roma women. I’m now married and the mother of Mark, my three-year-old son.”