'Everyday' racist harassment is placing devastating stress on families, says report

Racist harassment is an everyday experience for most of its victims, with damaging consequences for families extending far beyond each incident of violence or abuse. Social activities, personal relationships and health are all liable to suffer, with women’s and children’s lives often the worst affected of all.

The profound effects of racist victimisation on individuals and their families are catalogued in a new research study funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. It suggests that those affected usually wait until their lives have been made intolerable before lodging a formal complaint. Yet police and other agencies often fail to respond to the routine nature of harassment in a sympathetic or appropriate way.

Focus groups and in-depth interviews with black and minority ethnic victims were held in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow and London. Those interviewed mainly lived on council estates and most were women. The study adds a new dimension to previous research suggesting that racist harassment is far more common than shown in official crime statistics. It found that:

• Racist abuse and insults were part of the everyday experience of family members in shops, the street and at school as well as the home. Black and minority ethnic people were continually made aware of their ‘difference’ from white people.

• Women were the main targets of racist perpetrators. The fact that husbands and male partners were often at work when abuse occurred was a source of conflict within some families about the seriousness of their problems.

  “The children aren’t allowed to play outside. They have been chased and are afraid to go out. I have to wait for them at the bus stop when they come back from school.”

  “The little boy my daughter plays with has been headbutted by their [perpetrators’] older son and called a ‘paki lover’. He is three-and-a-half years old.”

  “I was so happy when it was raining and when it was dark because the kids were not playing out. But when the summer or half-term came I used to dread it. All the racists used to come out.”

• Children and young people were adversely affected by racist abuse – often from other children – and by the measures that their families took to protect them, such as preventing them from playing outside.

• Families took other drastic steps in the hope they could reduce the opportunities for abuse. These included measures like ensuring there was always someone at home, never going out at night, not taking holidays and not shopping alone. One woman described how she hung her washing out at night to avoid racist abuse from a neighbour.

• Although most of those interviewed had not been physically attacked, most said the impact on their health and well-being had been far-reaching. Anger, stress, depression and sleepless nights were common experiences.

• Victimisation not only created strain within families, but also led to social isolation as friends became scared and reluctant to visit. Victims were generally careful about talking to non-family members about harassment because of feelings of shame and inadequacy.

  “I don’t have visitors hardly because most of my friends are mothers and they are not prepared to come up here, not even my relatives. People don’t want to tell me, ‘I’m not coming to visit you’ but they don’t.”

  “I lost my child [miscarriage] due to the stress. I have a letter from the doctor telling the police that I miscarried due to stress last year. The only person I am talking to at the minute is my doctor.”

Many victims had disclosed their problems to a family doctor. However, it was rare for them to report racist harassment to the police or local housing department until it had become intolerable or life-threatening – or until a serious personal or property attack had occurred.

Nearly a quarter of those interviewed had not approached an official agency for more than 18 months after racist victimisation began.

Agencies had often questioned racist motivation or cast doubt on the victims’ perception of events. This added to the feelings of isolation and lack of support that those who were interviewed expressed, especially if they lived in predominantly white estates.

Kusminder Chahal of the Federation of Black Housing Organisations and co-author of the report, said: “Racist victimisation is far more complicated than individual incidents of harassment and affects every aspect of a family’s or individual’s life. Incidents occur against a backdrop of everyday, routine levels of racist harassment which official agencies fail to take into account. The sense of isolation from friends and family as well as agencies creates an intolerable atmosphere in the lives of the victimised.

“The challenge for policy makers is to recognise the implications of racist harassment for all aspects of family life and to develop procedures that respond to the wide-ranging needs of victims in sensitive and effective ways. We need a new agenda that recognises the failure of statutory agencies to challenge racist victimisation adequately and to ensure that the victim’s perspective is no longer lost in complaint procedures.”