The report, released yesterday, shows a total of 165 reports of racism recorded in the six month period between July-December 2015 – the highest to ever be reported in Ireland.
The findings come from iReport.ie, a website set up in 2013 by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) to make it as easier for people to self-report racist incidents.
Racism in Ireland is a typically under-reported crime.
Of the 165 reported incidents racist slurs, concerning the targeted person’s appearance or religion, occurred 163 times.
37 of the incidents recorded were serious offences, involving violent assault, physical intimidation, sexual harassment and rape.
The main form of abuse related to verbal abuse accounting for 32% of the cases.
The majority of incidents occurred during daylight hours and 117 of the perpetrators were recorded as being white Irish.
Testimony from victims re-printed in the report are harrowing to read; a pregnant woman punched in the stomach by a neighbour while being verbally abused, a child excluded from a sports club because the coach “refused to have any Black children in the team”, a young Afghan boy beaten unconscious by two Irish boys with a hurling stick and an iron bar.
Experiences of racism in Ireland are reported on every level of society, including the Department of Social Justice and An Garda Síochana. One example cited in the report of a ‘disproportionate search in public of a girl wearing a hijab without explanation’ by the Gardaí is uncomfortable to read.
In particular the report highlights the ‘severe impact’ on victims of racist verbal abuse when bystanders remain silent, bearing witness but offering no protection or support to the targeted persons.
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