Discriminatory Abuse

Discriminatory abuse is any form of abuse, motivated by prejudice or bias, which is carried out because of or relating to a person’s differences. It can include verbal abuse, harassment or deliberate exclusion, denying access to services or providing substandard services.

The abuse might be directed at a person because of their race, gender, age, disability, religion, sexuality, appearance or cultural background.  Sometimes a person’s individual characteristics may combine to create different and multiple discrimination and privilege (intersectionality). In the context of adult safeguarding, discriminatory abuse focuses on adults with care and support needs.

Discrimination may also be a feature or dimension of any other form of abuse – for example, neglect arising from ageist attitudes or financial abuse due to homophobic views. Discriminatory abuse also links with  hate and mate crime.

There is a low reporting rate for discriminatory abuse across England with only 0.8% of Section 42 Enquiries in 2023 – 2024 relating to this form of abuse.

Types of discriminatory abuse

These include:

• Unequal treatment based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex or sexual orientation (known as protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010)
• Verbal abuse, derogatory remarks or inappropriate use of language related to a particular characteristic
• Denying access to communication aids, not allowing access to an interpreter, signer or lip-reader
• Harassment or deliberate exclusion on the grounds of a protected characteristic
• Denying basic rights to healthcare, education, employment and criminal justice relating to a protected characteristic
• Substandard service provision relating to a protected characteristic.

Who it happens to and who are the perpetrators

Discriminatory abuse can happen alongside other types of abuse.

• Relative
• Professional e.g. carer
• Friend

When working with individuals we must always be mindful of our unconscious bias and avoid assumptions, striving to work in a way which allows us as professionals to see the person and their history, understanding the impact of trauma and marginalisation, creating trust.

What does discriminatory abuse look like?

Potential signs include:

• The person appears withdrawn and isolated
• Expressions of anger, frustration, fear or anxiety
• The care or support provided does not meet the adult’s needs
• The adult is fearful or anxious around a particular person
• The adult is not allowed to access services that are available to others
• Name calling or physical abuse

Discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 can be:

Direct discrimination:  when someone is treated less favorably because of a protected characteristic (actual or perceived) or because of their association with someone who has a protected characteristic.

Indirect discrimination:  when policies, procedures, ways of working or rules are applied equally to everyone and put people with a certain protected characteristic at a disadvantage compared with those who do not share that characteristics.

Harassment:  intentional or unintentional behavior that violates dignity and creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Victimisation:  when someone is treated unfairly as a result of making a complaint about discrimination.

The Safeguarding Response

The safeguarding response to any concern raised should seek to establish whether a protected characteristic may be a direct or indirect aggravating factor. Where this is the case, if the police are not already involved, they should be notified.  When identifying a protected characteristic, always remember that protected characteristics may be hidden or unknown, including religion, disability or sexual orientation.  For further guidance please see the Local Government Association (LGA) Discriminatory Abuse:  A briefing for practitioners (March 2022).

When a Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) is carried out, it should seek to establish any role that discrimination may have had in both the abuse or neglect and the safeguarding response itself.  See the LGA Guide – Discriminatory abuse in SARs.

How can I find out more?

Further information and resources for professionals are available via the links below:

• Safeguarding Adults – Discriminatory Abuse – 2:03 minutes – The Training Centre – YouTube
• Discriminatory Abuse – Ann Craft Trust
• Discriminatory Abuse in Health and Social Care – Care Learning blog
• Discriminatory Abuse – Developing Practice – Research in Practice (RiP) Podcast (33 minutes)
• Discriminatory Abuse – A scoping exercise – LGA
• Discriminatory Abuse – Self-Assessment Tool – LGA