Poradňa are preparing legal action challenging discrimination against the Roma ethnic minority in Slovakia, with a focus on access to public transport ticketing systems that require digital tools and skills. Roma communities are among the most marginalised groups in Slovakia, and initial human rights monitoring has indicated that recent changes in railway and urban public transport ticketing may disproportionately disadvantage these communities.
Where ticketing systems depend heavily on digital tools and impose financial or practical burdens on offline purchasing, digitalisation may undermine inclusion and intensify social exclusion.
Discrimination against Roma due to digitalisation of public transport ticketing
Organisation Name
Poradňa pre občianske a ľudské práva – Center for Civil and Human Rights
Country/Jurisdiction
Slovakia
Amount Granted
EUR 13,500
Current Status
Ongoing
Description
Poradňa are preparing legal action challenging discrimination against the Roma ethnic minority in Slovakia, with a focus on access to public transport ticketing systems that require digital tools and skills. Roma communities are among the most marginalised groups in Slovakia, and initial human rights monitoring has indicated that recent changes in railway and urban public transport ticketing may disproportionately disadvantage these communities.
Where ticketing systems depend heavily on digital tools and impose financial or practical burdens on offline purchasing, digitalisation may undermine inclusion and intensify social exclusion.
Poradňa want the courts to:
• enforce anti-discrimination laws;
• ensure non-digital ticketing options remain available without extra fees;
• prevent practices that disproportionately disadvantage offline users;
• promote inclusive transport policies combining accessible digital systems with non-digital alternatives; and,
• support measures to strengthen digital literacy in marginalised communities.
"recent changes in railway and urban public transport ticketing may disproportionately disadvantage [Roma] communities"
Strategic Goal
To increase digital literacy, ensuring public transport is equitable, inclusive, and non-discriminatory, while enhancing meaningful participation in digital systems for affected communities.
Poradňa do not aim to halt digitalisation, but to ensure it is non-discriminatory and inclusive. Litigation will seek both reasonable offline alternatives and measures to make digitalisation genuinely accessible, so access is not conditioned on digital skills or financially penalised.