By Mat Johnstone, News Editor

 

A third of all Black and Minority Ethnic Scots have faced discrimination, according to new research from the University of Strathclyde.

Research led by Strathclyde’s Dr Nasar Meer found that 35% agreed that “discrimination is a widespread problem in Scotland”.

Of the participants who said they had faced discrimination, 60% said they did report it to the police or any other authority.

Together with polling company Survation, Dr Meer polled more than 500 BME Scots across the country.

They found that discrimination was not limited to a single area of life, but found in education, on public transport, and even in employment. Discrimination was experienced in both getting a job and getting promotions.

Dr Meer said: “What it shows is that there is clearly a perception of both low-level and more obvious experiences of racial discrimination in Scotland, but also of under-reporting, and much more research is needed to show how and in what ways this may be occurring.”

Over half of the study’s participants agreed with the statement ‘the Scottish government is doing enough to tackle discrimination in Scotland’.

A spokesperson from the Scottish government said that they were providing £3m to organisations that “promote race and religious equality.”

82% of those who said they had faced discrimination said they believed this was because of their ethnicity, while 42% believed it was due to their ‘perceived religion’.