A report provided a summary of findings from a seminar series that considered some of the main challenges facing London's Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) children and young people. It said that some progress had been made in addressing racial inequality, but BAME children and young people still faced unequal outcomes in many key areas, such as: education; training; employment; criminal justice; mental health and well-being; and the lack of voice in the development of policy and practice. The report made a range of recommendations in these areas to government and other stakeholders.
Source: Eleanor Stokes and Barbara Nea, Shaping the Future: Getting the best for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children and young people – seminar series report, Race on the Agenda (ROTA)
Links: Report | ROTA press release
Date: 2013-Dec
An article examined the powerful role (real and imagined) played by the police in young Asian men's sense of belonging and identity.
Source: Matthew Millings, 'Policing British Asian identities: the enduring role of the police in young British Asian men's situated negotiation of identity and belonging', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 53 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Nov
A report for the equal rights watchdog examined the use of stop and search powers by police forces in England and Wales. It said that overall usage of the powers had reduced, but black and Asian people were still disproportionately targeted. The commission now proposed to work in partnership with those forces using S.1 and S.60 stops most disproportionately, to retrain officers on use of the power.
Source: Karen Hurrell, Race Disproportionality in Stops and Searches, 2011-12, Briefing paper 7, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report | EHRC press release
Date: 2013-Nov
An article examined the management of hate crime in the South West of England, looking at the implementation of hate crime policy across agencies. The research found some good practice and effective multi-agency working, alongside evidence of policy drift both between and within agencies.
Source: Zoe James and Lesley Simmonds, 'Exploring prejudice: managing hate crime in the South West of England', Crime Prevention & Community Safety, Volume 15 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Oct
A study examined who was affected by police and court enforcement of drugs laws in England and Wales. The study analyzed a range of data regarding stop and search, arrest, prosecution, and sentencing. It said that the policing and prosecution of drug possession offences was unduly focused on black and minority-ethnic communities.
Source: Niamh Eastwood, Michael Shiner, and Daniel Bear, The Numbers in Black and White: Ethnic disparities in the policing and prosecution of drug offences in England and Wales, Release
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Oct
A report summarized the key findings from research into hate crime in Wales. It said that hate crime was still a daily reality for many people, devastating individual lives and creating fear and distrust within communities. The prevention of hate crime was a long-term goal that would only be achieved if organizations worked together in partnership to meet this challenge.
Source: Matthew Williams and Jasmin Tregidga, All Wales Hate Crime Research Project, Race Equality First
Links: Report | Welsh Government press release | Cardiff University press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Sep
A report said that Asian girls were failing to report sexual abuse to the police and other authorities because they feared not being believed, or because they were threatened with bringing shame and dishonour on their families. Agencies were also too focused on a model of grooming involving white victims.
Source: Shaista Gohir, Unheard Voices: The sexual exploitation of Asian girls and young women, Muslim Women's Network UK
Links: Report | OCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Sep
A briefing paper said that community groups were key to engaging black and minority-ethnic (BME) groups that were disproportionately represented in both mental healthcare and the criminal justice system. BME groups made up 25 per cent of the prison population, but just 11 per cent of the general population. They were also more likely to be diagnosed with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, than their white counterparts.
Source: Anna Saunders, Deryck Browne, and Graham Durcan, Black and Minority Ethnic Communities, Mental Health and Criminal Justice, Centre for Mental Health
Links: Briefing | CMH press release
Date: 2013-Sep
An article examined the impact of anti-terrorism measures on citizenship. Citizens from a range of minority-ethnic backgrounds – not only Muslims – believed that anti-terrorism measures had directly curtailed and diminished their citizenship. This was in contrast to white participants who, although not untroubled about the impact of these measures, generally viewed this as a concern distanced from their everyday lives. This suggested that anti-terrorism measures might be contributing to a condition of 'disconnected citizenship'.
Source: Lee Jarvis and Michael Lister, 'Disconnected citizenship? The impacts of anti-terrorism policy on citizenship in the UK', Political Studies, Volume 61 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
A report said that Black people in England and Wales were significantly more likely to be searched by the police for drugs than their white peers, and also faced almost double the chance of being charged if any were found.
Source: Niamh Eastwood, Michael Shiner, and Daniel Bear, The Numbers in Black and White: Ethnic disparities in the policing and prosecution of drug offences in England and Wales, Release
Links: Report | Release press release | ACPO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the extent and nature of violent gang activity in three areas with a predominantly Asian population. It highlighted the problematic way in which the term 'gang' was being used. The uncritical acceptance of the term into policy and policing practices, and the policy transfer that had ensued, had the potential to further marginalize and isolate some minority-ethnic communities.
Source: Hannah Smithson, Rob Ralphs, and Patrick Williams, 'Used and abused: the problematic usage of gang terminology in the United Kingdom and its implications for ethnic minority youth', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 53 Number 1
Links: Abstract | MMU press release
Date: 2013-Jul
The equality and human rights watchdog said that police use of stop-and-search powers had been cut by up to 50 per cent in 5 forces, including London and the west midlands, without slowing the fall in the crime rate. An 18-month programme to reduce the disproportionate targeting of stop-and-search on black and Asian people had led to fairer and more efficient use of the powers.
Source: Stop and Think Again: Towards race equality in police PACE stop and search, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report | EHRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the changing geography of racial violence, in terms of new areas and targets. With racial violence officially defined as just one form of 'hate crime', it was now divorced from any wider political context or racialized climate and reduced to a matter of individual pathology. The changing parameters of racism and the state's responses presented a challenge which the political Left and anti-racists had been slow to meet.
Source: Jon Burnett, 'Britain: racial violence and the politics of hate', Race and Class, Volume 54 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Mar
A report said that attacks on people from ethnic minorities were spreading to new areas of the country, as a result of rapid population changes. It highlighted the potential dangers of 'decanting' those affected by the benefits cap to towns and cities that had little history of 'diversity'.
Source: Jon Burnett, Racial Violence: Facing Reality, Institute of Race Relations
Links: Report | IRR press release
Date: 2013-Feb