Racist or not?
The first and major problem with any case of racial discrimination is proving that the perpetrator’s intentions were racist. While this may be simpler in random cases of name-calling and verbal abuse, with most other race related cases, it is difficult to provide evidence of racist intent.
David Shire the former chief officer of the Dorset Race Equality Council says that the law is there to prevent or to prosecute a specific behaviour like assault or a crime. However, he highlights the greater issue: “What is more difficult to do is to provide evidence that the motivation was race, and the other thing is that even if there is evidence the crown prosecution service must be satisfied that there is a greater chance of conviction rather than it being 50-50.”
In many cases, there are few or no witnesses to the racial discrimination and this makes it even more difficult for the victims to get justice.
Kuldeep Benepal, a magistrate from Bournemouth explains that no case can be judged without the evidence. She says: “In cases related to racism, it is usually one man’s word against the other and especially if there are no witnesses it becomes very difficult.”
Having said that, she also advocates that people who are racially abused should be encouraged to come out. “Even if you lose the case in the court at least you have tried and in the course of time, if more people come out and if more education is offered to the public, I think things will be better.”
Terry Falcao is an employment solicitor who deals with racial discrimination cases on a regular basis. Listen to the audio clip below to hear more from him about providing evidence.