About INAR Shadow Reports
Racism is a reality in the lives of many ethnic and religious minorities in the EU. However, the extent and manifestations of this reality are often unknown and undocumented, especially in official data sources, meaning that it can be difficult to analyse the situation and to establish solutions to it. Even where there is extensive official data, NGOs offer a vital alternative data source that comes directly from experiences of those individuals and communities experiencing racism on a daily basis.
Filling the gaps
The INAR Shadow Reports are produced to fill the gaps in the official and academic data, to offer an alternative to that data and to offer an NGO perspective on the realities of racism with the EU and its Member States. NGO reports are, by their nature, based on many sources of data, official, unofficial, academic and experiential. This allows access to information which, while sometimes not backed up by the rigours of academic standards, provides the vital perspective of those that either are or work directly with those affected by the racism that is the subject of the research. It is this that gives NGO reports their added value, complementing academic and official reporting.
Racism remains a problem in Europe and Ireland is not immune to this phenomenon. EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s EU MIDIS study showed that 73% of sub-Saharan Africans interviewed said they had experienced discrimination. A report published by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland in 2010 revealed that 46% of teachers were aware of a racist incident in their schools in the previous month.
INAR established an independent system for monitoring racist incidents. Approximately 150 incidents were reported to INAR and our partners. 75% of the incidents reported involved violence and crime. Yet Ireland’s capacity to respond to and to prevent racism during such periods has decreased significantly since the beginning of the financial crisis.
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