You are here: Home > news > news > the changing faces of prejudice in northern ireland

The Changing Faces of Prejudice in Northern Ireland

24/06/2009

You don’t get to choose your neighbours or in-laws but if you could, who might they be and, more to the point who would be excluded? The Equality Commission today (24 June 2009) has launched new research which shows an apparent rise in Northern Ireland of negative views towards a range of people as neighbours, work colleagues and family members.

Nearly half of people questioned (51%) would mind a little or a lot having a Traveller as a neighbour, ten percentage points more than in 2005. More than one in five people (23%) say they would mind a gay, lesbian or bisexual person living next door, compared to 14% three years ago. The same number (23%) say they would have the same problem with a migrant worker.

Almost one-in-six of those surveyed (16%) said they would not want a person with mental ill-health as a neighbour. In comparison, 6% felt the same about those with a physical disability. Having a neighbour of a different religion was a difficulty for only 6% of respondents.

Announcing the findings, Bob Collins, Chief Commissioner commented: “The results of the survey highlight the breadth of work which remains to be done in order to effectively change perceptions and attitudes towards citizens in Northern Ireland.

“This survey is part of the Commission’s ongoing work to understand, and begin to break down, negative views which create barriers that limit the life experiences of individuals in our society.

“The findings suggest a hardening of views towards some people and also the complexities around those views. For example, in a similar survey in 2005, we asked about attitudes towards disabled people generally and received fairly positive responses. In this survey we have probed more deeply and found that those with mental ill-health were viewed more negatively than other groups of disabled people.

“Attitudes became more intense as the respondents considered closer social contact with the groups in question. So, in attitudes towards many groups, more people would mind having them as an in-law, than would mind having them as a neighbour or a work colleague. The most negative attitudes were expressed towards Travellers. A substantial minority also responded negatively towards gay, lesbian or bisexual people and towards migrant workers.

“Each of these areas has seen an increase in people expressing negative views, with 51% stating they would mind if a close relative were to marry a Traveller, compared to 38% in 2005. In 2005, 14% of people surveyed said they would have a problem working with a gay, lesbian or bisexual person, and today that has risen to 23%. These findings will help the Equality Commission and other bodies to focus on those areas which offer the greatest challenge to achieving equality of opportunity and a fair society.”

Support overall for equality legislation in Northern Ireland was extremely high with 92% of respondents agreeing there is a need for such laws. A significant proportion of respondents (16%) said they had experienced some form of harassment or had been treated unfairly during the past three years because they belonged to a particular group.

Bob Collins concluded: “The research indicates that, prejudice on religious grounds is broadly similar to that found three years ago and is still registered as the area attracting the least negative attitudes from the people polled. While it is a consolation that so few people expressed such attitudes we cannot assume that the question of sectarianism is no longer an issue. We know that the contrary is true. We know, too, that patterns of behaviour from one context can be transferred to another.

“We are very conscious that negative views covering a range of other grounds including race, disability, and sexual orientation are on the rise,” Mr. Collins said. “With an issue of such importance and universal application as equality, it is necessary to take a detached look at what people think. Surveys like this identify developing trends and they enable us to confront the challenge of changing attitudes. To do that everyone must recognise that differences can – and should - be respected and celebrated in a society that values shared living.”

The Equality Awareness Survey 2008 is available online:

Equality Commission Summary

Equality Commission Full Report

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

· The Commission appointed Social and Market Research to conduct a sample survey of the general public in Northern Ireland to establish current awareness of equality-related issues amongst the general public in Northern Ireland. Fieldwork on the survey, which covered all of Northern Ireland, commenced on 8 September 2008 and was completed on 26 September 2008.

· The Commission conducted a similar survey in 2005 and the relevant questions and responses have been used to benchmark change in attitudes.

· The survey was conducted with a representative sample of 1,071 adults aged 16 years and over.

· A stratified random sample was used to ensure the sample was fully representative of the Northern Ireland adult population (aged 16 and over). The sample was stratified by three areas, namely east of Northern Ireland, west of Northern Ireland and Belfast, with quotas also set for age, sex, and religion.