Rights-based mapping of race and religion (in-)equalities and discrimination in statutory service provision in Reading project

An ACRE, Equalities Alliance & Participation Lab collaborative research project

This project aims to conduct a rights-based mapping of race and religion (in)equalities and discrimination experienced by people of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds within statutory services in Reading. It will investigate practitioners’ and community members’ experiences, focusing on key settings such as housing, community safety, police and community relations, healthcare and youth services.

Adopting a human rights-based approach  and working in partnership with third sector organisations supporting and advocating for BAME groups, the research will seek to address the following research questions:

1.Who is experiencing discrimination or harassment on the basis of race or religion? With which statutory services or agencies?

2.Which issues/problems are being reported by people from BAME groups to third sector and statutory authorities?

3.How do organisations and agencies support people experiencing discrimination or harassment on the basis of race or religion?

4.What are the gaps in practice and areas for improvement to ensure the equality and human rights of people from BAME groups are secured, in line with legal requirements under the Equality Act 2010 and human rights legislation?

The research will adopt a ‘mixed method’ approach of qualitative and quantitative research, comprising:

• focus groups and interviews with practitioners supporting BAME groups in Reading and with representatives of statutory agencies.
• interviews with individuals who have experienced discrimination or harassment on the basis of race and/or religion.
• Online questionnaires for practitioners and community members to quantify how widespread different practices and reports of discrimination or harassment are.

The open access report and accessible outputs for practitioners will be co-produced with project partners and launched in a workshop with key stakeholders in April/ May 2020. The outputs will be disseminated through policy and practice networks such as Hate Crime Forum and Equalities Alliance.

This project is funded by the University of Reading, with the support of ACRE and the Equalities Alliance. Dr. Evans is a Trustee of ACRE.

For further information, see our presentation slides.

Contact: Dr. Ruth Evans, email: r.evans@reading.ac.uk or Dr. Yaw Adjei-Amoako, email: yaw.adjei-amoako@reading.ac.uk.