Research project

The prevalence and persistence of ethnic and racial harassment and its impact on health: a longitudinal analysis

Groundbreaking research into the prevalence and persistence of ethnic and racial harassment and its impact on health.

Completed

About this project

Background

The project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) under the Secondary Data Analysis Initiative. It uses Understanding Society, which includes an Ethnic Minority Boost, to understand how ethnic minorities in the UK experience harassment and its impact on their lives.

Project description

The project looked at several research areas:

Firstly, who experiences ethnic or racial harassment? The study looked at an overview of the prevalence, intensity and persistence of harassment in British society today. Following a long tradition of survey-based research on harassment and its effects, the researchers’ first aim was to understand who is most likely to experience harassment in Britain today. Are particular ethnic and religious groups more likely to experience harassment? Which types of individuals within these groups are more vulnerable?

Secondly, the study looked at whether ethnic minorities living in certain types of areas are at a greater risk of experiencing harassment and looked for the causal impact of residential characteristics on harassment.

Thirdly, researchers sought to identify protective factors against the negative impact of harassment on mental health and wellbeing. They uncovered factors that make individuals resilient to the negative consequences of harassment on mental health and wellbeing.

The fourth research area looked at the effect of ethnic or racial harassment on health behaviours. The researchers examined related – but distinct – research questions: what is the effect of ethnic and racial harassment on the health behaviours of the adult foreign born? and what is the effect of exposure to ethnic or racial harassment on the health behaviours of UK born (or raised) ethnic minorities?

Findings

There has been a spike in hate crimes following Brexit, evident in the recent report on hate crimes published by the Home Office and extensively reported in the media. The Home Office publishes annual reports on hate crime statistics based on police reports. However, these sources do not provide information on who experiences the harassment. The last report to provide such information was based on a 1994 survey. As part of this project, we have produced a report on “Who experiences ethnic and racial harassment” based on a large nationally representative survey of UK residents, Understanding Society. The survey started in 2009 and continues to interview the same people every year. Our research addresses the following questions:

Who experiences ethnic and racial harassment, defined as being physically or verbally attacked because of their ethnicity, religion or nationality?

  • Around 4-10% of men and women of most ethnic minority groups report experiencing ethnic and racial harassment in the past year
  • This proportion is higher, around 15%, for Chinese men and women, Pakistani men, Indian-Sikh men, Indian-Muslim men and Bangladeshi women

Where do they say they experienced it?

  • They are most likely to experience it in the streets, shops and public transport
  • They are less likely to experience it if they live in areas with a higher proportion of their own ethnic group members

Who lives with the fear of having such experiences expressed in feeling unsafe and avoiding places?

  • For most ethnic minority groups, twice as many people anticipate or fear harassment than actually experience it, with the exception of black Caribbean and black African groups.
  • Women are more likely than men to feel unsafe and avoid places, but men are more likely to report actually experiencing ethnic and racial harassment.

The 2016 report is available here.

Download the end of project briefing note on the project here.

Listen to Dr Alita Nandi talk about the research here:

Essex Research: Dr Alita Nandi from University of Essex on Vimeo.

Keys messages:

  • Individuals reporting ethnic and racial harassment are not necessarily the most disadvantaged. This risk is higher for ethnic minorities who are younger, more highly educated and male. The reported harassment is predicated on being in public places and possibly having the confidence to identify and report it.
  • Risk of harassment is positively associated with certain types of places: areas of high white concentration, areas with higher proportion of UKIP or BNP voters, more deprived areas (net of ethnic composition). But surprisingly, this risk is not related to other crime.
  • There is a substantial association of ethnic and racial harassment with worse mental health. Those experiencing ERH more stressed and anxious. There is some evidence that ethnic ties are a resilience factor. Some factors are more effective for UK-born ethnic minorities while others morefor the foreign-born.
  • There is a widespread ripple effect of ethnic and racial harassment as reflected through its persistence over time and spillover effects, especially for UK-born ethnic minorities. Ethnic and racial harassment is experienced by a broad population of ethnic minorities, with damage to mental health, even among those who do not directly experience it.

Findings from the project have been published as written evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into hate crime and its violent consequences.

Read the explainer: “Prevalence and Mental Health: Consequences of Ethnic and Racial Harassment”

Research papers and articles