DO alerts • Even harassed by school staff • Disabled people are also discriminated against
A widespread and serious social problem. This is how the Discrimination Ombudsman describes the incidence of discrimination in their latest report. In the school environment, it is students with disabilities and the group of Afro-Swedes who are particularly vulnerable.
– This is nothing that can continue any longer, says the discrimination ombudsman Lars Arrhenius.
For the second year in a row, the authority Discrimination Ombudsman investigates how widespread discrimination is in society. The report points to serious shortcomings in several areas, including how discrimination occurs in working life and in public environments. But this year’s report focuses particularly on the school and how Afro-Swedish students are exposed.
– It’s the n-word, it’s racist graffiti and you get socially excluded or simply ostracized. But there are also serious cases of abuse. These are situations that we would never accept in our work environments, so you can’t do that here either, says Lars Arrhenius, discrimination ombudsman.
More than 20 percent of the notifications
According to the authority, 514 cases of discrimination linked to ethnic affiliation at school have been reported from 2020 to 2023. The review shows that more than 20 percent, i.e. roughly one in five students who are exposed, are Afro-Swedish.
– This shows a very serious situation, I think. It’s a massive problem and it needs to be addressed now.
The school is not doing enough
When the authority compiles data from several sources, survey responses, received notifications and interviews with representatives of organizations in civil society, the analysis shows, among other things, that harassment in school occurs both between students, but also from school staff. Now the Discrimination Ombudsman is sounding the alarm that the school is not providing the right support to the students and, in the worst case, is not doing anything at all.
– It is serious and especially serious, I would like to say, when students tell us that it is actually school staff who can sometimes be responsible for this and that people turn a blind eye to what is happening. Pupils must feel a sense of trust and security in their teacher and school staff. If you don’t feel that security, it is very difficult to absorb what actually happens in education, what you are supposed to learn at school, says Lars Arrhenius.
Can’t go on like this
– We will address the government now to take an initiative for a major increase in knowledge. There are major knowledge gaps in the school and it is absolutely necessary, I think, to have that knowledge in order to act. Otherwise, I think as school staff and teachers, you become unsure what to do in this situation. So there has to be a change. This is nothing that can go on any longer.
Fact: This counts as discrimination
In this report, discrimination is defined as events or situations where a person is disadvantaged or offended in a way that is related to any of the grounds of discrimination:
– gender
– transgender identity or expression
– ethnicity
– religion or other belief
– disability
– sexual orientation
– age.
The definition of discrimination also includes sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is behavior of a sexual nature that violates someone’s dignity, and that does not have to be connected to any of the grounds of discrimination. The form of discrimination lack of accessibility is also included in the definition.