Charity No 1080031
Written evidence from Communities Together
Race and Religious Discrimination Report 2016
Summary
There is an understanding that Equality and Diversity (E&D) is a good thing to be
seen to address in North East Lincolnshire, and so there is a nod to E&D, but it is a
limited response. This is due to the overall lack of understanding of equality and
diversity, its value, how it can affect cohesion, a safer and stronger community, and
economic growth.
With little priority and or direction given to the local authorities, the police, schools,
colleges and businesses via central government, E&D is underfunded and lacks
priority. Match this with the media priority given over to negative stories of
difference, stereotyping and prejudice, ignorance and intolerance is growing. Black,
Asian, Minority and Ethnic Communities (BAME) grow accustomed to the abuse, and
have subsequently turned to each other for support, turning away from ‘top down’, illinformed, initiatives and the statutory service providers.
Introduction
Communities Together (C2G) and The Equality Practice Ltd (TEP) work in
partnership in North East Lincolnshire (NEL), working closely with the North East
Lincolnshire Council (NELC), Shoreline Housing, Humberside Police, The Clinical
Care Commissioning Group, NHS and the local colleges and schools. The Grimsby
Mosque experienced a fire bomb attack in retaliation to the Lee Rigby murder in May
2013. Since then many Islamophobic race hate incidents take place on a daily
basis. Many women and their children are subject to such abuse, as are many men
who are not white. The night time economy that serves a mainly white British
community informally report habitual racism, as do the Polish and Eastern
Europeans and those working in the NHS.
1. Within North East Lincolnshire, racism and religious discrimination are part of
everyday exchanges. Many who are not white are reporting being called a ‘Paki’.
This term is used a lot to refer to corner shops/owners as many are run by people
with coloured skin. It is also a term used to insult or poke fun at someone even if
they are white. Religious discrimination is mainly felt by our female Muslim
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community. They are perhaps the most visible as different, as they often wear the
Hijab. They are also an easy target, as they are often alone, having, for example,
dropped off the children at school, or are out doing some shopping.
2. Young people use language that is classed as racist as part of their normal speak,
often unaware of the offensive nature, and hurtful nature of words they use. They
are victims of a very ignorant local and national society, where people who are
different are habitually belittled in the media and within their own peer groups.
Because of this, many within this community have experienced racism and religious
hate, but they tend not to report. Lack of formal reporting is a problem in NEL, with
many victims stating there is ‘no point, as nothing will be done anyway.’ They do
know how to report, but prefer to keep a low profile, so as to avoid further targeting.
3. I am a worker for a charity called Communities Together. It works closely with the
BAME communities. I am also a Director of a Social Enterprise called The Equality
Practice Ltd. Both organisations work in partnership to raise awareness of diversity
and its value to society. It is a difficult task, as there are more negative stories in the
media and no vehicle to counter-balance such negativity towards difference. The
government should look at how the media whip-up hatred, with passive negativity.
They are not using the traditional nasty words that people know are not correct, but
they use a drip drip effect, full of corrosive discourse that sets people against people.
My organisations work with schools and communities to explore equality and
diversity to question stereotypes and prejudice. We could do much more, with
greater backing, financially and through the championing of E&D via national
government, local government and Ofsted.
4. Current provision of E&D provided by Communities Together and The Equality
Practice, is very effective when it has the opportunity to be. However, with the
limitations of funding, and with organisations such as Schools, Colleges and Local
governments prioritising their time to other subjects, the value and importance of
E&D, its cohesive initiatives and positive messages are both limited, and sporadic.
They cannot be expected to be effective as ‘one-off’ sessions. They too need to be
ongoing and repetitive and be given priority to successfully effect a culture change.
Education and initiatives are limited, due to time and funding. Schools report to my
organisations that they need teacher training to be able to tackle the issues in
schools. Unfortunately the problem of racism and lack of tolerance does not just lie
with parents and students. Some heads report such ignorance is very much within
their pool of teaching staff. As E&D it is not a priority of government & Ofsted,
training relies on the foresight of pressed Head teachers, should they have the funds
left to spend!
7. Lessons on racism and religious discrimination are about value and respect for
others. This should begin as children enter the school environment. Such lessons
can be designed to be ‘age appropriate’, with language and resources to
complement understanding.
8. Changes in attitude can be instantaneous. For many, the positive and the
challenge to the negative stereotypes we are all exposed to, have never been
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presented for consideration. When confronted with such positive messages, many
have the opportunity to see in a different way. My organisation uses resources such
as entertainment, music, food, education, classroom based activities, games,
events, visits to different places of worship, etc. However, young people go home to
parents that have no education in diversity, to people who have had no opportunity
to question the stereotypes and prejudices they have been exposed to, and so
positive learning can be eroded once a young person is back at home. This work
has to reach into homes and lives of people outside of education, the same way the
media seeps into the public consciousness.
9. Many schools and colleges try to address Equality and Diversity through events
such as Holocaust Memorial, Diwali celebrations, Chinese New Year, etc, but this is
optional and young people can choose whether or not to attend. Attendance is not
high, as perhaps the relevance it has to their lives is not understood? Equality and
Diversity is more than having an awareness of difference and how a person should
behave. It is about understanding the value that diversity brings to society, to
business, and to the economy. When staff struggle with this, then their students do.
E&D has to be fully understood by staff to be embedded within the curriculum, within
society, and in this town this is not the case. Time, resources and priority, limits
participation.
10. Currently North East Lincolnshire Council in partnership with Voluntary Action
North East Lincolnshire provide victim support. Within the BAME communities that
do not report, they turn to each other. With limited resources for staff, females from
some religious groups will not turn to male victim support staff. I believe we should
support these communities to create provision that is best for them. Top down
approaches do not work.
11. Young people learn from their parents and peers. When their mothers and older
sisters are abused in the street, their father and brothers abused at work, and they
perceive they have no-where to turn, they learn there is no one to help. People
within these situations close down and turn to each other. Services that are
available are ineffective because they do not take into account the cultural or
religious sensitivities needed to help victims. One service for all does not equal
fairness for all. Greater work is needed with these communities to develop
relationships and understanding. This would lead to trust and feeling valued by
service providers and their neighbours. It would help inform creative approaches to
a growing problem of intolerance.
12. Good practice starts with truly understanding Equality and Diversity, truly
understanding the BAME communities. The provision of a female police officer to
build relationships within female circles is not rocket science. Reporting back to
victims what has been done, why something has not been done, what can be done is
basic communication and it shows respect and value to those who suffer hate crime.
It requires people to listen and talk and build initiatives that are solutions to
problems, not actions to address issues as they happen. This is fire-fighting and
unproductive. Over time it is costly and just proves nothing is changing to those that
suffer.
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13. C2G and TEP go into areas where hate crime incidents are experienced most.
Here entertaining and interactive workshops and training in E&D is provided to
young people who live in these communities. We organise visits from different
religious groups to hold talks, we have visits to different places of worship, organise
events that invite people to experience difference, in food, sweets, entertainment.
We provide people with the opportunities to interact with others different to
themselves. People learn not fear difference, to realise how difference can enhance
society. People and society need positive message about difference.
14 Improvements in the work we do could be realised through financial and social
support, and government backing.
Equality and Diversity needs to be put in a
priority position, high on the agenda for statutory organisations and schools, and
not just be something that requires an annual report that shows a few tick box
exercises have been met. A ‘so what’ approach needs adopting, ‘so what’ have you
done that has made a positive difference for those who suffer race and religious
discrimination?
15. Between 2013-2015 For the first time in 18 years North East Lincolnshire
Council, Humberside Police, the CCG and Shoreline Housing, an organisation
known as the Joint Theme Board funded Communities Together (C2G) to engage a
worker. The worker built relationships with the diverse communities and religious
groups, and has been able to consult with many to understand the issues that these
people face.
From this initial financial support, C2G has been able to gain further funding, pull
together partners and build partnerships to enable understanding of issues that
thus far they have not taken on board. The simple fact of a female police officer
becoming a friendly face to those in the Muslim ladies circle, this will be realised this
month. A Hate Crime reporting App will launch in Sept/Oct. This idea came from the
community and C2G brought in all the partners to enable the creation and use of,
and how it will work with Humberside Police.
C2G recognised the far right wing following of our local football team Grimsby Town
FC. It is now working with the staff and players to address issues of inclusivity to
ensure all in our community have access to attending a football match in safety. It i s
helping GTFC to sensitively educate a fan base into being more tolerant and
understanding of value of those that are different.
C2G are working with the local NHS trust to look at initiatives that promote the value
of difference within the hospitals, through positive marketing, normalising and
promoting difference.
C2G help individual communities by Advocating on their behalf. Many communities
feel more confident using an Advocate, as business owners and employed people,
don’t always have the time to go to meetings, challenge and educate organisations
and service providers on issues of equality and inclusivity. With a designated worker
this is taken care of. C2G has helped set up organisations designed to educate and
challenge the systems which they feel leaves them isolated and weak. It has given
hope to communities that the local government and police are trying to understand
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and work with them. It has been very successful, yet the position is set to end in
June 2016.
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