Harassment related to caste

A 2010 Home Office study, Caste discrimination in Great Britain, also records worrying evidence of discrimination between castes, including workplace bullying, demeaning behaviour and violence. Bullying included unfair exclusion from work social events and networks, humiliating behaviour, such as refusing to share the same tap, or demeaning behaviour. For example, one worker reported being told by his line manager to: “Go wash some floors. What are you driving cars for?”

The caste system is a socio-cultural set of customs originating in South Asia which promotes rigid social stratification, excluding and denigrating individuals because they are born into a particular group. It has Hindu origins but no longer affects only people of Hindu faith.

The Equality Act 2010 contains a provision (section 9(5)(b)) to add “caste” to the existing definition of race for the purposes of equality legislation but the government has not brought this part of the Act into force.