Reporting an Incident
What is 'discrimination'?
Discrimination happens when someone is treated less favourably because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion/belief or disability (known as 'direct discrimination'). Or when a policy, practice or process puts someone at an unfair disadvantage (known as 'indirect discrimination'). Direct discrimination includes acts of harassment, bullying and victimisation.
Examples of discrimination: Inaccessible building or communication method; refusal to co-operate or provide a service; excluding someone; poor attitude; use of inappropriate or offensive language or stereotyping; display or forwarding of offensive material; sexual innuendo or harassment; verbal abuse/threats; physical assault or damage to property.
What is an incident?
An incident of discrimination often comes in the form of behaviour that appears or feels offensive, humiliating, hostile or intimidating to the recipient or would be so regarded by another person.
Some general examples might include:
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targeted insults, derogatory name-calling/comments, jokes, ridicule of an individual for cultural differences, disability, gender or sexuality etc.
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physical threats or attack
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the distribution or display of insulting graffiti, insignia or literature
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group dynamics, i.e. excluding an individual
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offensive emails/texts
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refusing a service from/to someone because of their ethnicity, disability, sexuality etc
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incitement of others to behave in an oppressive way
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any behaviour that is offensive or intimidating to the recipient on racist, homophobic, disability grounds etc
(this is not an exhaustive list and new/different types of incidents can emerge)
Why report it?
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You have a right to be treated fairly and to feel safe, respected and supported.
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We want to know if you have been affected by, or witnessed, an incident.
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Knowing what happens can help us understand the issues people are facing and develop strategies to stop them happening again.
How do I report an incident?
You should make a formal complaint about the incident through the Council's complaints procedure.
Corporate Customer Feedback Process
There is also a statutory procedure for handling complaints made by, or on behalf of, people (both adults and children) who use:
Social Care & Health Services
Vulnerable Children's Services
Information for Staff:
There is a separate reporting process set up for our staff. If you are employed by Staffordshire County Council, please see the Intranet pages for guidance on how to report an incident.
Other Support
If you do not wish to use our reporting process, or you wish to get further information and support, you can contact the following external agencies:
CACH (Chase Against Crimes of Hate)
Report online: http://www.cachpartnership.org.uk
Phone or text: 07971 497 988
PACH (Partnership Against Crimes of Hate)
Email: administration@eaststaffsrec.co.uk
Phone: 01283 510456
PARINS (Partnership Against Racist Incidents in Staffordshire)
Report online: http://www.parins.org
Phone: 01782 407947
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