6. Dealing with racism, harassment and abuse

[ch 6: page 48]

Over and over again, surveys show that racist harassment, bullying and abuse is alive and kicking in UK workplaces.

In a recent example, a TUC survey of over 1,200 BAME workers carried out just before the outbreak of the Covid pandemic revealed that almost one in three (31%) had been bullied or harassed at work, and the same number had experienced verbal abuse. Even worse, at the extreme end of the scale, one in five BAME workers had faced physical violence, threats and intimidation.

Racism can take many forms. Three in 10 (29%) of the TUC survey respondents had been offended or humiliated by the way in which they had been asked about their culture or religion. More than one in five had seen racist images or content shared through social media at work, and 36% had heard racist jokes or so-called “banter”. Large numbers said they had been excluded from workplace meetings or conversations or workplace-related social events.

Some of these actions are also described as “micro-aggressions”, but over a period they have a significant effect on those experiencing them.

There is clearly a lot of work to do to ensure that a workplace is welcoming and inclusive to BAME workers.