One in ten ethnic minorities reports experiencing racial harassment

14 May 2019 01:22 PM

Around one in ten ethnic minorities in England has reported experiencing ethnic and racial harassment in a public place and almost double this number has reported feeling unsafe or avoiding public places, both of which are associated with poorer mental health, according to new research.

The findings were part of an ESRC-funded study of the prevalence of ethnic and racial harassment and its impact on health during the period 2009 to 2014, conducted by researchers at the University of Essex using data from the large-scale household panel survey Understanding Society. The researchers also looked at measures that can protect ethnic minorities against the mental health costs associated with ethnic and racial harassment.

Lead researcher Dr Alita Nandi, of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, yesterday said:

“Given the series of increasingly stronger anti-discrimination and anti-racism laws that have been passed in this country since the late 1960s, the finding that around one in ten ethnic minorities reported experiencing ethnic and racial harassment was surprising. 

“What was alarming was that almost twice as many – one in five – ethnic minorities reported avoiding or feeling unsafe in public places due to their ethnicity, religion or national identity. Thus, fear of harassment is even more widespread than the actual incidence rates suggest.”

The study’s other main findings were:

Dr Nandi yesterday explained:

“To provide a benchmark, we found that the estimated mental health cost was higher than that associated with unemployment. Given how common and emotionally costly harassment experiences are and, given that there are very few factors that can reduce the mental health impact, these findings highlight the importance and urgency of reducing and eliminating harassment and discriminatory practices and behaviours.”

Gavin Sutherland, a spokesman for the charity Show Racism the Red Card, yesterday said:

“The findings of the ESRC and University of Essex research illustrate the impact that ethnic and racial harassment has on individuals. This research and recent noticeable spikes in hate crime levels nationally show that for many people, racism is an all too common occurrence in UK society.

“The detrimental effect of this type of abuse to an individual’s mental health underlines the need to ensure education about racism and discrimination is part of policy and strategies to challenge prejudice.”

The researchers hope their findings will increase awareness among the public, policy-makers, healthcare professionals and law enforcement agencies about how common such harassment experiences are. They also hope that investigations into causes of mental health issues among ethnic minority individuals will consider harassment and discrimination to be one of the possible causes.

Further information

Notes for editors

  1. The ESRC is part of UK Research and Innovation, a new organisation that brings together the UK's seven research councils, Innovate UK and Research England to maximise the contribution of each council and create the best environment for research and innovation to flourish. The vision is to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.
  2. The ESRC is the UK’s largest funder of research on the social and economic questions facing us today. It supports the developmeand training of the UK’s future social scientists and also funds major studies that provide the infrastructure for research. ESRC-funded research informs policy-makers and practitioners and helps make businesses, voluntary bodies and other organisations more effective.
  3. UK Research and Innovation is a new body which works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. We aim to maximise the contribution of each of our component parts, working individually and collectively. We work with our many partners to benefit everyone through knowledge, talent and ideas.
  4. The Prevalence of Ethnic and Racial Harassment and its Impact on Health website
  5. The Prevalence of Ethnic and Racial Harassment and its Impact on Health team members: Dr Alita Nandi, Dr Renee Luthra, Professor Shamit Saggar and Professor Michaela Benzeval.
  6. The Prevalence of Ethnic and Racial Harassment and its Impact on Health: A Longitudinal Analysis used the UK-wide household panel survey, Understanding Society, which interviewed 51,000 adults, including 10,000 ethnic minorities.