No excuse

People with Pakistani or Bangladeshi ethnic backgrounds are 14 times more likely to be victims of racially motivated crime than white people. Source: British Crime Survey, 2000

Discrimination or harassment of anyone because of their sex, race,
religion or disability is against the law. You don’t have to tolerate it.
See below for ways to get help.

Sex & sexuality

Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 it is unlawful to:

• Treat one sex more favourably than the other in work, training, education, adverts, housing, and providing goods and services
• Discriminate against a transsexual in work or vocational training
• The law does not cover discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation but you may be able to use the law on human rights. An experienced adviser at a Citizens Advice Bureau or LAGER can help. Report harassment to HALT on 01865 243389.

Key links: www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk, www.row.org.uk, www.stonewall.org.uk

Race & religion

Attacks on someone because of their racial or ethnic origin or their religion or lack of religion are unlawful. Attacks can be physical, damage to home or property, verbal abuse or written abuse like texting, and abusive slogans painted on a wall or building. If this is happening to you, get legal advice. The Racism Actionline can also help. Call 01865 791 891 or use the forms on www.reportracismoxon.com.

Key links: www.cre.gov.uk, www.irespect.net, www.britkid.org

Disability

Disabled people have a legal right to:

• Help and services from their local authority
• Access to all educational buildings and new buildings
• Education fitted to their needs

You can insist that your local council finds out what you need at home. If they agree that you need any services it is their statutory duty to provide them. You have a right to be educated in mainstream schools with appropriate support and equipment.

Key links: www.drc-gb.org, www.after16.org.uk, www.bbc.co.uk/ouch.

Experience: effects of racism

Imran Mirza, a personal adviser for Connexions, talks to Abdullah Banaras, 18, of Oxford.

> Can you tell me about a particular incident of racism that you have experienced?
When I was 16 I was hanging around with my Asian friends in the park when a group of white kids asked if we
wanted to play football. We said yes and it was fine until a couple of older kids began saying we shouldn’t be in
England and doing impressions of Asian stereotypes. They were shouting ‘pakis’ and that really p***** me off. I
have white friends who joke about and call me paki and I call them white boy and we just laugh about it. But when
someone I don’t know calls me that I get vexed.

> How did you deal with this incident?
I went home and got my older brothers to chase them off. I wouldn’t normally do that but it felt like they were going
to get violent.

> Why do you think racism exists in multicultural societies?
Ignorance. People blatantly don’t understand Asian culture and backgrounds and that makes them intolerant. The media feeds them with images of terrorists, suicide bombers and they get it into their heads that we’ve all got links or something. It’s the media and ignorance.

Experience: religion and bullying

Being part of a religious community gives you an opportunity to demonstrate character and personality. It gives you a chance to share and strengthen your beliefs instead of keeping them inside. But it can be frightening to tell others you go to church. Some people will use it against you. It might affect your social life. In the end it comes down to your friends. If they bully you, they’re not your friends. If they respect you they are. Everyone has a right to their own opinions and everyone has a right to be respected. Even if you don’t agree with someone else’s opinion it doesn’t mean that you have a right to attack them. – Young People of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Oxford

Experience: disability discrimination at school

I'm visually impaired and my advice to anybody with a disability is to know your rights. You have to go out and find these things. The best way is to join a support group. There are groups for nearly every problem. I'm a member of Look, which helps young people who are visually impaired. I've had lots of problems at school. I wasn't allowed to do a Geography A-level and they tried to limit me to two A-levels. If you know you can do something you really have to push for it. Look came and made a good case, saying I needed everything on tape and proper help. They have expert knowledge so they can put forward a good argument. They helped convince the Education Authority and I managed to do 3 A2 levels and get into university. — Katherine Dutson, 18