Missed Connections
A research project exploring barriers and challenges faced after experiencing an incident of discrimination or harassment.
Initiative Background
Communities of Colour and Indigenous communities face a number of gaps and barriers in accessing support services and complaint processes after experiencing an incident of racial or cultural discrimination or harassment. This can be as simple as not knowing who to call for assistance after being called a racial slur on public transit or feeling unable to seek restitution after experiencing workplace discrimination.
This can be as simple as not knowing who to call for assistance after being called a racial slur on public transit or feeling unable to seek restitution after experiencing workplace discrimination.
In their 2012 report Healing From Racism: Mapping Anti-Racism Programs in Alberta, the Alberta Network of Immigrant Women summarized the difficulties with the chain of referrals that individuals often experience: “Sending clients to unfamiliar services and programs is frustrating for the clients. By the time they are in contact with organizations it takes time for the client to gain organizational trust and [it is] painful to share their story all over again…This results in resources, program delivery, and services being scarce for the victims of racism and discrimination.” More recently, the 2014 Come Together Alberta Conference report identifies exactly this situation as one of the biggest challenges facing institutional stakeholders: “those who need support don’t know about the supports available and how to access them.”
Those who need support don’t know about the supports available and how to access them.
In response to these growing concerns and barriers, this project aimed to advance the understanding of the challenges that communities face by systematically mapping the journeys of individuals as they navigate organizations and service providers. The results of this project were shared with service providers, including the Alberta Human Rights Commission and the City of Edmonton, to fulfill their mandate for all Albertans’ better.
To read the results of this research project, download the full report.
Initiative Funders
This project was supported by Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund.
