Valued support projects for victims of racist harassment ‘left to run on a shoestring’

Support projects for people who have experienced racist attacks and harassment are playing a valuable role in helping victims and their families to rebuild their confidence. But research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warns that they are unevenly spread across the country and subject to regular funding crises.

The study calls on government to recognise the importance of these services by agreeing a long-term funding strategy and introducing national guidelines so caseworkers can receive accredited training. It also urges projects to take a lead in building local coalitions of support for victims of racist harassment and community-led partnerships to challenge racist behaviour.

The report, by Kusminder Chahal, follows a study four years ago that revealed how victims of racist attacks and harassment often felt isolated and received little practical or psychological support from statutory or voluntary agencies. The new study looked at the work of local support projects across England and Wales, including eight that were used as case studies. It found that:

• Racist harassment support projects had either emerged as a political response to attacks, including murder, in places where minority ethnic communities lived, or been established to better co-ordinate the work of local agencies.
• All the projects studied were providing direct support to individual victims of racist harassment through caseworkers. This included emotional support and assistance with formal complaints. Some projects also made specialist security equipment available to families and local businesses.
• Interviews with victims showed that the support from caseworkers was appreciated because it validated their experience and because it had helped them, their families and the local community to rebuild their confidence.
• Caseworkers were overloaded and often managing more than 80 cases at a time. Many felt they needed more training and support in a job that, by its nature, was emotionally challenging. Insecure and limited funding meant they received little or no help with personal and professional development.
• Projects were also involved in activities that included work with schools to raise awareness of racism and monitoring the extent of racist harassment in their area. A number had produced training materials and other resources to challenge racist harassment and some had co-ordinated political campaigns arising from specific attacks.

Kusminder Chahal said: “Project caseworkers are valued by the victims of racist harassment for providing an understanding, non-judgemental service that helps to validate their experiences. Projects do not claim they can end the harassment that individuals and families experience, but they are able to offer assistance, knowledge, guidance, reassurance and representation that is very welcome. ”

He added: “Despite the evidence that caseworkers are hard-pressed and that projects are much-needed, they tend to exist on a shoestring, with short-term funding and regular financial crises. There is no government funding strategy in place that recognises the relevance and importance of their work – a gap in policy that deserves to be remedied as a matter of urgency.”