Although racial harassment is occurring at an alarmingly high rate across British universities, many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are not only unaware of the scale of the issue but are over-confident in their ability to handle it, says an official UK watchdog.
An inquiry by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found that 24pc of ethnic minority students have experienced racial harassment on campus.
Universities are over-confident that individuals will report harassment, with 43pc of universities believing that every incident of racial harassment against students was reported, and 56pc believing that all incidents against staff were reported.
However, two thirds of students who responded to the ECHR survey and had experienced racial harassment said that they had not reported the incident to their university. Less than half of all staff who responded to a call for evidence because they had experienced racial harassment, said that they had reported it to their uni.
Students and staff suggested that they did not come forward, because they had no confidence that the incident would be addressed. Others said that fear of reprisals also played a part, as two thirds of staff said that better protection from personal repercussions would have made it easier for them to bring a complaint.
Rebecca Hilsenrath, Chief Executive at the Commission, said: ‘We expect universities to be innovative environments that do more than just teach us how to pass exams. We look to them to help us to grow as individuals and prepare us to be good citizens. It is considerably disappointing to discover that, instead of being progressive and forward thinking, they are living in the past and have failed to learn from history.
‘No one should ever be subjected to racial harassment in any setting. Our report reveals that not only are universities out of touch with the extent that this is occurring on their campuses, some are also completely oblivious to the issue. This isn’t good enough. More must be done to protect all students and staff on campus so everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential in work and education.’
The Commission’s recommendations for the UK Government and higher education providers to address racial harassment, include:
– mandatory duty on employers: the UK Government must reinstate third party harassment protections and introduce a mandatory duty on employers to increase protections for staff from harassment;
– adequate powers for regulators: governments across Britain should ensure the sector regulator and funding councils have adequate powers and that these are used to hold universities to account on their performance to prevent and tackle harassment;
– effective complaints procedures: higher education providers must enable students and staff to report harassment and ensure their complaints procedures are fit for purpose and offer effective redress;
– senior-level action on inclusive cultures: senior leaders should take steps to embed an inclusive culture where staff and students feel confident and supported when making complaints.
Despite UK universities being keen to encourage international students, the study found a strong theme of international students feeling unwelcome, isolated and vulnerable. Some even described feeling only wanted for their fees. Half of the international students who responded to our call for evidence because they had experienced racial harassment, said that they had been made to feel excluded, over half said they had experienced ‘racial micro-aggressions’, and 44pc said they had experienced racist abuse, but 77pc of respondents did not report it to the university.
For the study, visit https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/tackling-racial-harassment-universities-challenged.
Comment
University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen J Toope said there was no place for racism or racial harassment of any kind at Cambridge. He said: “We are determined to nurture the right culture at Cambridge, and will intensify efforts to equip staff and students with the confidence to talk about race, and identify and challenge racism whenever they encounter it.
“We will ensure all members of our community can access help when they need it, and know decisive action will be taken when behaviour falls short of what we expect. Collegiate Cambridge is becoming increasingly diverse, with more than 25% of our student community drawn from BAME backgrounds. We have introduced decisive measures to promote and support diversity across our staff and student community.
“But we must build on these to remain a place where all members of our community can thrive and feel safe, and supported to do their best work. We will continue to work closely with students and staff on how we can enhance our efforts to make Cambridge truly inclusive.”
At the sector body urgently seeking independent, external expertise to strengthen our new group on tackling racial harassment to advise universities on effective actions and how to scrutinise and challenge action plans.
“And I am calling on my fellow university leaders to make this a top priority, starting by committing publicly to taking urgent action in their institution and ensuring staff and students know how to report incidents and how to access the support available to them.”
At the sector body Universities UK Prof Julia Buckingham, President, and Vice-Chancellor of Brunel University London, said UUK was urgently seeking independent, external expertise to strengthen its new group on tackling racial harassment to advise universities. “And I am calling on my fellow university leaders to make this a top priority, starting by committing publicly to taking urgent action in their institution and ensuring staff and students know how to report incidents and how to access the support available to them.”
Universities UK is hosting a one-day conference on ‘Tackling racial harassment in higher education’ in central London on October 30. Speakers include Elizabeth Bowles, Head of Inquiries at the EHRC; and Zamzam Ibrahim, President of the NUS (National Union of Students). Dr Stevie-Jade Hardy, Associate Professor, University of Leicester, will report on a case study at Leicester.
A UUK separate survey found good progress in responding to sexual harassment and gender-based violence, but less priority afforded to tackling other forms of harassment including racial harassment and other forms of hate crime.
Again separately, UUK recently brought out guidelines on online harassment.
The NUS says that it has re-affirmed its commitment to tackling bigotry, prejudice and discrimination across society and the student movement.
The safety body for the UK Jewish community the CST alongside Facebook and the Board of Deputies launched a guide ‘Protecting the Jewish community from antisemitism on Facebook’, in Westminster on October 16. View the 20-page guide on the CST website. The guide makes the point that anti-semitism in the UK ‘has risen steadily over the past few years, with many recorded incidents taking place online’. CST recently hosted its first antisemitism student one-day seminar.
