WA:Racial harassment complaints rising in WA

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2011
WA:Racial harassment complaints rising in WA

PERTH, Feb 16 AAP - Western Australia's Equal Opportunity Commissioner says racial
harassment complaints are on the rise.

Yvonne Henderson says there have been 23 formal complaints so far this financial year,
compared to a total of 28 complaints made in the whole of the last financial year.

Ms Henderson says the increase has been in the area of goods and services, such as
shops, restaurants and hotels, where harassment complaints have gone from zero to nearly
nine per cent.

She says that while Aboriginal people were the traditional victims of racial harassment,
there had been a recent increase in people from Africa and the Middle East becoming targets.

"We get complaints that people are being watched and followed in shops and are being
asked to open their bags when other people don't get asked to open their bags," she told
AAP.

"Hypothetically, they might say `we don't want people like you here' or something like that.

"It's more than a slight, it's quite insulting."

Ms Henderson said there had also been an increase in complaints from men who say they
are not getting the same access as women to entertainment precincts.

AAP anr/dep

KEYWORD: HARASSMENT

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