The role of visibility for a minority’s exposure to (hate) crime and worry about crime – a study of the Traveller community

This study examines Travellers, a subset of the Roma minority; exposure to (hate) crime; and worry about criminal victimization in Sweden. Previous research has shown that the Roma in many respects constitute a marginalized group that is vulnerable to both discrimination and other criminal acts. This is problematic since there is a risk that minorities who are victims of crimes may be further stigmatized and may also lose cultural expression. The data are collected from a sample of Travellers living in the Gothenburg region of Sweden (N = 121). Approximately one fifth of the respondents stated that they had experienced anti-Roma motivated victimization during the previous 12 months and as many as 84% stated that they had been the victims of such a crime at some point during their lifetime. The respondents also reported a high level of worry about criminal victimization, and 3 out of 10 respondents stated that their quality of life was highly affected by worry about crime. Further, a tendency was noted toward a higher degree of victimization, but a lower degree of worry, among those respondents who were open about their ethnicity by comparison with those who were not.