Consultations with migrant and refugee women
Racism and civil society: Community consultations held with the Immigrant Women's Speakout NSW (27 June and 2 July), the Muslim Women's Association (16 July) and the Vietnamese Women's Association (26 July) by the HREOC Sex Discrimination Unit which also prepared this report. [1]
- Experiences of racism
- Sources and causes of racism
- Factors that exacerbate racism for refugee and migrant women
Theme 2: Victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
- Whole communities often affected by racial stereotyping
- Children of migrant families: second generation issues
- "Second generation" girls
- Intersectionality
- Shared experiences
- Racism takes priority
- Programs to challenge racism
- Overhaul the access to government help
- Existing programs which challenge racism
As part of its consultations
for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance being held in August and September
2001 in Durban, South Africa, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
has produced an issues paper on the intersections of race and sex in experiences
of racism (the "intersectionality issues paper"). In that paper,
the Commission committed itself to placing women's experiences of racism
centrally in its work for the World Conference. A copy of the intersectionality
issues paper is available at:
www.humanrights.gov.au/worldconference/aus_gender.html
As part of its commitment the Commission has conducted a series of consultations specifically with women, to better to understand the range of experiences of women who suffer disadvantage and discrimination on the basis of race in Australia.
A series of four groups focusing on immigrant and refugee women's experiences of racism was organised with the assistance of NSW Immigrant Women's Speakout, a non-government organisation. The focus groups comprised immigrant and refugee women as well as community workers. Details of the meetings and focus groups are annexed to this report.
The Commission also travelled to parts of NSW to talk to Indigenous women about their experience of racism. These Consultations are dealt with in a separate report.
The focus groups principally discussed:
- o the particular
types of racism experienced by immigrant and refugee women of diverse
cultural and linguistic backgrounds;
- the causes and
sources of this racism;
- what the Commission, the Federal Government and the international human rights community can and should do about these problems.
The following report is a synthesis of those discussions.
Theme 1: Sources, causes, forms and contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Women from non-English speaking backgrounds identified language as a major focus point for racist attitudes. They gave as examples:
- A community worker
found that in her experience, charities were reluctant to help those
who could not speak English. Because women often needed the most community
services, this affected women disproportionately.
- Another participant
commented that many charities discriminated on the basis of religion,
assuming that Muslim women (for example) had their "own" services.
Or further, that they should be grateful for any services they received
compared with their homeland.
- One participant
repeatedly experienced having friends' mothers shout, "You speak
good English!" at her, even though she grew up in Australia.
- A participant has had many friends experience difficulties with banks. One particular friend had to wait an hour before bank employees sent a Vietnamese-speaking employee to help her.
Women found that these linguistic and cultural barriers were unfortunately often present in those who were supposed to help, such as government departments. Often the double burden of race and gender were not fully considered by those in government service.
A community worker from the Afghan Women's Network stated that she believed that every member of her community had experienced racism since being in Australia. There is an expectation that when coming to Australia, there will be no discrimination, however refugees become disappointed as they realise there is discrimination here.
Even if you can speak English perfectly, having an accent puts people off and results in discriminatory treatment e.g. immediately the person who hears the accent puts the person with the accent in the 'too hard basket'. They assume that the other person will not understand them, they immediately stop listening upon hearing the accent, or they provide a lesser level of service to the person with the accent.
People are treated differently based on their accents e.g. a French accent is regarded as sexy, or a person with a Canadian or British accent is treated with respect even if they cannot be understood. This can be compared to the reaction to a person with an Asian or Indian accent, who is often met with a dismissive attitude, or eye rolling.
Visibility was a particularly important focus point for the racism experienced by Muslim women. For example, one woman who had been born and educated in Australia spoke of how, when she made the personal decision to don the headscarf about 2 years ago, people in the wider community treated her differently. Some spoke slowly to her, assuming she was a newly arrived immigrant etc. She was treated purely in terms of her dress - she became a symbol to the wider Australian community. This was the experience of most women who chose to wear the hijab, regardless of how long they had been here.
The overwhelming attention meted out to women who are highly visible because of dress, make them feel even more isolated. It was noted that the women present were lucky in that they were able to speak out about their experiences. Concern was expressed for those women who could not voice their concerns.
In general, women who wear the hijab in Australia are treated differently because it is assumed that all of these women are Lebanese and Arab which is associated with the negative stereotypes/assumptions about Arabs fostered in Australian society. Examples of this treatment included:
- A woman spoke
of how the constant stares and attention meant that she rarely felt
comfortable going far without her husband.
- A community worker
was working as a group leader at a multicultural centre and wanted funding
to provide swimming sessions for Afghani women. She wanted to run the
sessions at Bankstown RSL Club as there was a day when only women were
allowed to use the pool, and Afghani women will not be seen in swimming
costumes around men. She found that Bankstown RSL resisted the idea
of the swimming sessions from the beginning. She recalled being treated
in a derogatory manner by the person she spoke to there. "The facial
expressions and treatment of the person at Bankstown RSL Club reflected
the expressions of a person who felt that they were speaking to an untouchable
caste of society." She could directly compare this treatment with
the different, and better treatment given to an Anglo woman who walked
into the club at the same time. The worker tried to write a letter to
her local newspaper expressing her disappointment in the treatment that
she received.
- One woman spoke of how the netball uniform for young women at school was a short skirt. Because this did not fit with the culture of the Muslim students, the uniform effectively barred Muslim girls from comfortably participating in sport.
Women are treated differently because of their attire - women's clothing is more likely to be identified with a culture, whereas men, who do not usually wear culture-specific clothing, can 'blend' more into Australian society. Women are therefore under a lot of pressure to dress in a western style so that they do not stand out in the streets, university, job training etc. This often has repercussions for them in their homes as their husbands often disapprove of changes in their dress or outlook. The pressure for women to dress in western clothing is reinforced by the fact that women in cultural dress are 'invisible' in Australian public life e.g. rarely are women who are service providers seen wearing hijab. Wearing cultural attire such as sari, hijab, often prevents women from getting jobs, as being "well dressed" is defined in terms of western standards of dress.
Because of physical stereotypes there are also prejudices experienced by persons who are visible because they are smaller physically. For example, a participant's brother does not speak English very well and is small in size, but is a good worker. His boss scrutinizes his activities and picks on him much more so than he does the Thai and Malay employees.
For some Vietnamese persons, racism experienced because of difficulties with English is compounded with ageism. Some women spoke of employers who perceive older Vietnamese persons to be useless, especially if they have difficulty with English. Families have also been affected by a change in the legislation that governs visas. The number of visas potentially allotted to older persons is now severely limited. That was expressed to be a form of discrimination in relation to family responsibilities.
Racism from police was identified as a major manifestation of racism. In courts there are many racist assumptions made about migrant and refugee women, particularly in relation to Apprehended Violence Orders. For example it is assumed that the woman bringing the action is making up the story so that she can get residency in Australia. This is particularly prevalent in cases where women have come to Australia, been forced into prostitution, found themselves in violent relationships and then try to take action against the men abusing them. Often in cases where the woman does not speak English, the magistrate will ask the man involved whether the woman is telling the truth. The magistrate assumes the woman is bringing the action to secure herself residency or a visa in Australia, or that the woman will never proceed with the application.
It was agreed that racism comes from both the white Australian community and from within minority groups. However most women agreed that racism from white Australians is more dangerous because it is this group that holds the power in Australian society. One woman pointed out that a truly non-racist society would not allow intra-racial attacks. Education across all groups is therefore necessary.
All the women agreed that European newcomers do not experience the racism experienced by Vietnamese newcomers. It was generally agreed that, as part of the unspoken 'hierarchy' of races, the wider/white community was more tolerant of races that had settled earlier eg the Northern Europeans were treated better than the newer Southern Europeans. It is possible that African newcomers have it worse. The group agreed that there was discrimination against new migrants by older more established ones.
However, as far as the practice of racism was concerned, visibility often overrode length of time in the country. For example, a woman of Vietnamese descent told how, despite the fact that she had spent most of her life in Australia, had an Australian accent and education etc, people were constantly asking her, "When did you come here?" or commenting on how good her English was. She felt that some minorities would always be associated with being newly arrived because of their physical appearance.
Stereotypes from within communities
During the Vietnamese Women's consultation, one participant said the world should know that Vietnamese women love their husbands and children and would sacrifice everything for them. Another participant disagreed that the above characteristic was entirely virtuous. She thought Vietnamese women should not be so self-sacrificing and should expect other family members not to be so demanding of them. This discussion was agreed to be symptomatic of a difference between the generations in a Vietnamese-Australian household.
It was generally agreed that race and immigration politics did not take women into account. However the group was undecided as to whether this was a cause or simply a result of racism. Many women felt that Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander issues were higher on the public agenda than migrant and refugee issues. This reflected the politics behind anti-racist initiatives. It was agreed that although these were important issues for Australia, migrant and refugee problems had often lapsed as a result. They felt that this is reflected in public funding decisions (such as the de-funding of the Immigrant Women's Speakout), or the removal of policy functions, or simply the lack of research and inquiries into the experiences and conditions of linguistically and culturally diverse women.
Women experience domestic violence differently according to their culture and socialisation - there is often a failure to take this into account when dealing with domestic violence. A catch 22 arises, because it is often seen as preferable to allow ethnic communities to deal with domestic violence internally. However this often allows certain cultures to reinforce their negative assumptions and stereotypes about women. This, in turn affects public perception where the stereotypes are further reinforced.
Refugee women and migrant women often have a harder time accessing the employment services offered by government departments. They often stay home with the children for the first few years, yet some services expire 5 years post-arrival. This is particularly difficult for women as learning English is not often a priority in their first few years in Australia: they are more focused on getting the children into a school, getting housing etc. There are no networks in place to support women in learning English eg childcare is not provided while the classes are run.
Concerns were expressed about the treatment women receive in employment agencies. Often women are referred for counselling for emotional problems when there are actually no problems, however they were unable to express their needs clearly as they do not speak English well and no translators were provided. Employment agencies often send single mothers to full time training or full time English classes, which they are unable to attend as they have no access to childcare. Their failure to attend this training is seen as them resisting the system.
It was felt that problems with employment service providers have increased since this service had been contracted out to private companies. It was felt that outsourced service providers do not display the same cultural sensitivity (as it is often not part of their training) and are much more focused on making money. Women also experience a subtle form of racism in dealing with these service providers e.g. women from non-English speaking backgrounds are given less information than other women, or their full range of options are not explained to them in the same way they are to other women.
Ignorance was identified as a major impediment to cultural understanding that in turn leads to intolerance.
In general most of the women identified 'fear of difference' as the most likely motivator for racism. Many women, particularly the Muslim women, felt that Anglo-Australian society feels threatened by migrant/refugee issues and women's issues, just as men feel threatened as soon as conversation starts about women's issues. This was expressed to be particularly disappointing as Anglo women and migrant women have so much to learn from each other.
Racism was often made worse by a denial of difference
Migrant women also identified a general attempt to change or co-opt them in order to deny their difference. Many women felt that mainstreaming is part of the government policy of assimilation. It presents a person with two choices, either speak in the language and conform to our remedies, or don't use the service. For example:
- A woman relayed
her experience at a new job where her employer anglicised her name against
her will because he felt that her "real" name was too difficult
for the other Australian workers to remember. It only stopped when the
woman refused to answer to this new name.
- Another woman told how she was personally offended when a customer service provider repeatedly asked for her "Christian" name. She felt that it was assumed on the part of the operator that there was one dominant religion as well as culture in Australia.
All those interviewed agreed that the media will identify the race of a perpetrator of a crime if that person is non-white, but not if the person is white. The Muslim Women's Association told of how it is making in-roads into the problem of media portrayal, as they have set up a media liaison unit. As a result, some articles were beginning to be progressive and positive. However, most media reporting of the Muslim religion tended to characterise Muslim women as weak and oppressed. This raised an interesting discussion about the interface of sexism and racism. Because of racist assumptions, many people seemed to feel free to treat Muslim women in an extremely sexist manner.
The media blames a lot of community ills on the presence of Asians. This results in hostility towards them. A lot of Asian students get assaulted in school for no reason.
When a news report includes racial information, it helps to perpetuate the idea that there is no difference between or within that particular ethnic group, for example, that all Lebanese are the same.
This led to a discussion about racial stereotypes, and the general feeling that migrant and refugee women were keen to express that their identity was multi-faceted, that there was more to them than where they "originally came from". Stereotyping was primarily the reason why religion was equated with culture for Muslim women.
All agreed that there were more subtle indicators that emphasised difference such as name or skin colouring. These stereotypes are present in policing procedures in certain neighbourhoods, where many participants felt police routinely associated certain ethnic groups with crime. This especially affected young people and second generation children.
Factors that exacerbate racism for refugee and migrant women
A lack of female leadership, or leaders who are sympathetic to women's issues, means that there is no one to lobby for those people at the grassroots level. Nor are there structures in place that allow women to pass on experiences to other women. Women need spokeswomen and mentors. Immigrant women in particular often do not have access to a mentor in a more powerful position.
Migrant women have a particular lack of power/access to power. As soon as people see power in women they want to get rid of it, because mainstream society finds it so threatening. This explains the loss of funding of women's groups as they start to get momentum and have a slight impact. Many migrant women felt that the de-funding of non-government organisations (NGOs) is also part of a government focus on assimilation.
Additionally, focusing on men's issues results from seeing women as a threat, for example, it is seen as crucial that something be done regarding the education of boys so that they will not fall behind girls. It was noted that domestic violence schemes which focus on empowering women are being de-funded and that money is being channelled into tackling this issue from a male perspective.
Vietnamese women felt they are kept out of institutions of power even more so than Vietnamese men.
Theme 2: Victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
Whole communities often affected by racial stereotyping
It was also discussed how 'Muslim' was automatically associated with being 'Arab', which in turn was automatically associated with violence. For example, Premier Carr recently allocated $2 million to the Muslim community. This was reported in the media as "$2 million to clean up Arab gangs". The media was the worst perpetrator of these stereotypical associations. One woman spoke of a recent incident involving a Ryde Councillor who dismissed the multicultural aims of the Council because of what he felt was the "hopeless" situation of "Arab gangs" etc. It was interesting to note that although he had some degree of support, most public opinion came out against his views.
Children of migrant families: second generation issues
It was strongly agreed by all that there were issues concerning the children of migrant families. It was noted that the difference between second generation children and their parents was often linguistic. It was easier for them to gain employment, access services etc. However, for this generation there exists the added burden of "where do I belong?"
Many of the women present spoke about how their children still suffered from racism, and that this racism isolated them from the culture they had been born into, thus ensuring that the second generation feel isolated both from their parents' culture and that of the wider community. In one parent's view, this feeling of not belonging leads to the formation of gangs and groups, though not always violent ones. This isolation has also led to intra-cultural violence, for example, Australian Lebanese kids vs. Australian Vietnamese kids.
It was agreed that people were less willing to talk about racism against second generation children. This was in line with what the group felt was a general reluctance to "name" different forms of racism, despite the fact that it was recognised that women need to relinquish self-blame before racism can be understood as a systemic problem. This was noted by one woman who worked with refugee torture and trauma victims: naming racism was even harder among these women as it was generally perceived that they were "lucky to be here".
Traditional views of a woman's role created struggles in Vietnamese-Australian households: the young girls are often pressured to walk a line between two worlds. They want to pursue opportunities and to enjoy those opportunities that are available to women in Australia, but they have a hard time dealing with the expectations of parents and other family members about how girls should behave. Interestingly, however, many women felt that these young women formed their identity primarily in relation to their boyfriend, and how traditional, group-orientated or assimilated they were.
Some participants were undecided as to whether the second generation were worse or better off. For example, one woman suggested that younger persons might be more successful, especially if they are not small in stature and speak English without an accent. Others disagreed.
Women's experiences of racism differ from men's
Some of the participants felt that the experience of racism is very different for women and men. For example, a participant described how in her experience, most racial abuse of men tended to be expressed physically, eg fighting in the playground or street attacks. Women, on the other hand, tended to experience emotional and psychological abuse, eg alienation in the workplace. However, other women felt that this was precisely why women experienced a more insidious form of racism, one which was compounded by their gender: physical violence was at least tangible or visible, while the psychological violence migrant and refugee women experience was less tangible and less "provable". Thus women's experience of racism often went unbelieved or unreported. The effect of racism on women is damaging to their self-esteem, emotionally, physically and psychologically. This needs to be recognised, as it results in women suffering low self-esteem, depression and may lead to other mental health problems and can affect their children.
Women who come to Australia have often lost everything, eg skills, family, friends, jobs. They had often suffered more than men in war. They arrive in Australia with expectations that everything will be better. When they experience racism here they are even more disappointed because they hold these expectations. For example, upon complaining about a refrigerator or requesting a house with more rooms to accommodate three children, housing providers are often unsympathetic to women, expecting them to display a grateful attitude and asking them whether they had a refrigerator or extra bedrooms in Afghanistan? These women should not be made to feel this way, or be expected to compare their standard of living with Afghanistan. The desire to have more bedrooms or a refrigerator is often the same in either country, however in poverty-stricken countries it is not possible to have this desire fulfilled, whereas in Australia, it is not unrealistic to expect these things. People have the right to aspire to the standard of living of the country in which they are living.
Sexist assumptions from white women
Another interesting point made by several of the Muslim women in attendance was that western women often perpetrated the sexism that they felt was already characteristic in Muslim culture. For example:
- One woman spoke
of her frustration at constantly being ignored in favour of her husband.
Despite the fact that she spoke clearer English, she said Australian
people, especially women, very often spoke over her, to her husband,
even when the question pertained to her. They assumed that he was dominant,
and that she could not/would not speak for herself.
- Another example
was relayed about how Australian women also imposed their own sexist,
racially stereotyped assumptions onto Muslim women. One participant
told how Australian university friends were constantly questioning how
she was "allowed" to be out studying at night.
- A Muslim woman
told of how, at a medical conference, the topic of female genital mutilation
was raised. A counsellor recalled a time she raised female genital mutilation
with a client who had experienced it. The client said to the counsellor,
'Why are you so interested in talking about my genitals, why aren't
you interested in talking about my problems?'
- A Vietnamese participant said that some "Australian" woman said publicly that Vietnamese women are prostitutes - helping to perpetuate the idea that all Asian women came here as "mail order brides" and the like.
Racism/sexism in the workplace
Work opportunity was identified by the group as a major area of disadvantage for migrant women. Many women gave examples of how difference in speech (accent), dress, and "look" made them less attractive to potential employers. One woman gave the example of how men were picked first for promotions, followed by Australian women.
A further discriminatory situation arose because newly arrived migrants are expected to "retrain" upon arrival. Where the women had sole custody or responsibility for the children this made getting work in which they were skilled extremely difficult, if not impossible. As newly arrived migrants have to wait two years before receiving any benefits (such as educational allowance, or childcare), it is most often men who go out seeking work, while women do the majority of the work within the home. This often leads to feelings of personal and cultural isolation, which in turn acts as a disincentive for immigrant and refugee women to find employment outside of the home.
It was also noted that in employment, the "norm" is still the white male. Culturally diverse men are often considered closer to that norm, more able to 'pass' due to the commonality of gender, than a woman from a culturally diverse background.
It was also noted that immigrant and refugee women were more likely than any other group to end up in exploitative working environments such as outworking. It was also noted that these areas were often not reformed because they were beneficial to the economy. Income was identified as being significantly lower for migrant women due to wages being significantly lower, as well as the lack of adequate welfare support.
A woman who worked in an employment service specialising in placing and retraining immigrant and refugee women revealed that many employers refused to employ immigrant and refugee women on the grounds that they "failed to comply" with the character requirements of the job. The employers claimed that the applicants "did things differently". This different method of doing things was not seen as an attribute, but was instead construed as a reason not to hire anyone of that culture in the future.
Another woman did not want to participate in the social after-work activities of her company, as she felt uncomfortable and did not drink for cultural and personal reasons. She was pressured because of this to such a degree that she could not go to work. The woman was fired for abandoning her employment, despite being capable at her work, ostensibly on the grounds that she did not fit into the "work culture" of the company.
There was common agreement amongst focus groups that women definitely do suffer from racism that is different in kind and degree to that experienced by men, and while there are many differences between women, we need to realise that in the end there are commonalities of experience that should be focused and built upon e.g. our biology, emotions, family responsibilities, sexism, patriarchy. This is more useful than continually dividing woman into groups e.g. Vietnamese women, Lebanese women. The system is clever in isolating women, women already suffer more isolation than men and spend more time in the house because of cultural norms and the need to look after children. This minimal contact that women have with other women in the outside world often means that they do not necessarily understand that other women are having the same experiences as them and are women first.
However in doing this we must be careful not to mainstream everything. For example, in providing practical remedies and fulfilling needs, there must be communication across cultures and cultural sensitivity, for example, advising a women who has been through trauma to have a relaxing bath is often not appropriate for Hindu women. Women may suffer the same problems, but women from different backgrounds may handle it differently. There must be acceptance of this.
Most of the women agreed that the most important battle to fight was racism. In general though, most of the group felt that racism was experienced before sexism, and thus was a larger issue for migrant women. A participant stated that she identified firstly as an Asian, then as a lesbian woman: this was primarily because this was the order in which a white culture had discriminated against her. One woman suggested that the focus on race was necessary because anti-racism was not considered as important as anti-sexism.
Theme 3: Measures of prevention, education and protection measures aimed at eradicating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Programs/activities in schools
We all need to learn to "speak up" against racism. Australians should say something when they witness persons treating others in a discriminatory manner. Schools were identified as a good starting point for programs that address racism and sexism. Schools should implement this type of public awareness raising. This education could follow two paths:
1. Teaching young children about difference and tolerance. These can be peer- driven programs. These are often more effective as it means that children will become more questioning and less accepting.
2. Targeting educators, so that the teaching environment is friendlier towards teachers with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. For example, teachers with accents are often marginalised, or not given top jobs. Also training young teachers to be more culturally sensitive to their students' differences, and the issues that arise from this.
It is also necessary to mobilise parents on these issues in schools. For example, all parents should form groups at schools and hold Parents and Citizens or Parents and Teachers nights to discuss racism and other migrant/refugee issues. We need incentives to get parents to attend these evenings and training and support to encourage them to attend the meetings or be involved in order to avoid situations where only parents who can communicate in English will attend. The interaction between parents and schools is very empowering for parents as it gives the power back to the individual to address these issues.
Engage in visible anti-racist endeavours; for example, one community group which received coverage on TV for cleaning up graffiti.
Community education using community advocates was suggested. However these advocates are usually male and in powerful positions. Community leaders must be aware of this and encourage advocates to aim to empower women.
Educating migrant and refugee women about their rights and about how to be assertive in claiming them. These initiatives would best be implemented by the women themselves, accompanied by changes to legal structures. For example, domestic violence was identified as a major problem in some families. This was an area that the group identified as a target for community education.
Rural areas should be targeted for public education.
However, some in the groups felt that education only went so far; structural change was needed, and those at the top needed to change first.
Training in the service sector
It is necessary to train mainstream service providers - although this is an old issue it is very important. Persons who provide services to Asians, for example, government workers and teachers, must have education and training. We need to scrutinise the training itself: it needs to address what is racism and where it comes from. Training needs to allow people to unpack their own racism. The training should also address sexism.
Training needs to be non-tokenistic. It was strongly agreed that the "half day training" programmes which are so popular could do little to help. One woman told how she was constantly asked for one page "cultural profiles" during training, despite the fact that this perpetuated stereotypes.
Capacity building was also suggested wherein bureaucrats needed to spend time and money on EEO principles after which their progress would be assessed and their salaries adjusted accordingly. It was agreed that leaders needed to take responsibility as role models.
Inter-faith, or inter-cultural education programmes
Participants identified a lack of inter-faith and inter-cultural communication. Fear and threat can be removed by dialogue occurring between these women: we need to learn to speak together and to tackle the big picture, for example lack of access and equity policies, together.
A need was identified to use the media and other vehicles to get women/migrant women's issues back onto the national political agenda.
Migrant and Refugee women must be able to analyse what is said in the media and respond to it by informing the public what is the real situation for women. This can be done by:
- Complaining,
however a complaint is more powerful with law behind it.
- Responding directly,
as opposed to just talking about it.
- Counterattacking with a strong voice.
Accountability on the part of the media also needed to be addressed. It was suggested that a code of practice be instituted which was realistic and enforceable. This would be accompanied by public discussion about what is "acceptable" when dealing with race issues, eg a discussion of the responsibility that comes with the freedom of speech.
Overhaul of government service providers
Systematic monitoring of service providers should take place eg monthly reporting systems that report incidences and review the effectiveness of the training programs. The effectiveness of grievance procedures should also be reviewed.
Overhaul the access to government help
There is a need to facilitate changes in the welfare system so that it provides more and ongoing support for women from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds in training or retraining. This is important as it will allow these women access into the workforce. There is also a need to reinstate financial support for migrants without the two year waiting period. There is a general lack of understanding in the community as to how racist this waiting period and other immigration policies are. If action is not taken against these policies they become supported and entrenched in Australian society and their impact more accepted. It was acknowledged that it was hard for NGOs to take action against these policies as this action may result in them losing funding.
Increased funding for women's NGOs
Time and resources emerged as the most prominent hurdle for community women's groups.
There is a lack of
organisational funding for specialist groups dealing with migrant women.
Existing bodies which focus on women's issues need to be given more power.
This can be done by giving them funding. For example Immigrant Women's
Speakout is only funded for general issues. Thus women's specific experiences
are not acknowledged.
Projects must be funded for the long term. Governments very often cut
off funding after the initial stages. Additionally, funding is often so
low as to be ineffectual- projects are often "set up to fail".
Women's groups are expected to do the work for free in their own time,
adding to the workload of community workers. There is discrimination because
of the lack of funding. The attitude is that if you are so committed,
you'd do it on your own time. Community workers do so and also rely on
people being committed in this way instead of getting funding.
Funding needs to be accompanied by structural support and training. For example, grants should be accompanied by training in how to lobby. Often policy and community development are not acknowledged as important for Government funded projects.
The need for a voice within a peak women's organisation
There seems to be a government attitude that women's groups will be funded as long as they maintain their grassroots position, so if a peak body is created it will be necessary to link it up with grassroots bodies when addressing day-to-day issues. Creating this network will need appropriate funding. The choice is to either mainstream migrant and refugee women's issues such as domestic violence, or to treat migrant and refugee women as so culturally different that they can only be dealt with from within their community. When asked whether it would be more effective to fund small specialised groups, or whether mainstream groups should incorporate the needs of migrant and refugee women, it was agreed that both were needed. There is a need for small groups of infrastructure all over the country to provide local support networks for women. At this point in time they do not exist. These small networks can be linked later. First different groups needed to be funded and brought together, and the outcomes from these groups needed to be implemented.
The option of including migrant women's concerns within a generalist women's peak body was suggested, however some women expressed fears that a "white" women's body might exclude other women and not address the issues specifically facing migrant women. Mainstream women's boards must include the voices of migrant women by making sure at least one of the representatives is from a non-English speaking background. Such a woman should be given support to be successful. On the other hand, because they are women's issues they may not be covered in structures dealing with racism. The issues, which must be dealt with at the intersection of race and gender, may fall in the 'gap'.
Women don't have a place to speak out about their experiences. As a result they are further disempowered and the power imbalances that already exist, increase. It was generally agreed by several of the focus groups that there needed to be a separate forum for the discussions of race and gender. Too often women's issues were "tacked on" to the end of discussions of racism, as though it was an unimportant side issue that affected only a small number of people. It was important that women have a separate, as-important arena in international forums on racism. This would bring the concerns and experiences of women to the fore. Women's organisations that specifically deal with these issues should be given more funding, as well as a forum in which to be heard.
There should be more women's boards and councils comprised of non-white women. Women from diverse backgrounds should be involved in mainstream women's groups and in non-white women's groups. It was suggested that an inter-cultural round table of women could be started in the wake of the WCAR. All there agreed that attendance would be high if they felt that the outcome would be implemented. This group could then lead the discussions about race/gender in the national forum organised for early next year.
It was also suggested that there could be a separate branch of the Ethnic Communities Council for women, or a Women's Rights Commission to avoid Anglo women's issues being focused on. The Commissioner should be from a racially disadvantaged background or the Commission should focus on issues facing racially disadvantaged women.
Increased funding for research projects
It is necessary to bring a gendered perspective to all debates surrounding race and women. The importance of doing this is illustrated by the fact that many refugees are single women and children. It was also pointed out that it was simultaneously important that racial differences were acknowledged in every discussion about sexism. It was suggested that there needed to be gender-specific research done into the numbers and circumstances of refugees. This would help to identify any special needs of newly arrived women.
It was also agreed that it was important to make sure that grass-roots NGOs were regularly and adequately funded to attend conferences.
If emphasis is placed on ensuring women are in positions of power it will not be necessary to continually be consulting them. This would ensure authority and power at the higher levels, to lobby and set agendas. However it was also observed that many women tend to work better in flat structures that aren't too multi-layered. Ideally, we need to keep contacts and links at grassroots level and also have strong leadership positions to ensure that women's issues remain on the agenda and that things actually get done. Women in leadership positions are useful to link back to community groups.
The Department for Women and Office of the Status of Women could run projects/programs to identify activists at all levels who can be leaders. These women should be given support and skills, and specifically, create a network of support for them. They should avoid having the 'usual suspects' as leaders.
It was suggested that a group of female leaders was needed, not just one woman. These leaders need to be constantly changing possibly every two years, to keep the issues and the role dynamic, and to avoid it becoming bureaucratised. This will avoid the situation that arises for men, where they stay in positions and organisations forever and as a result become stale and ineffective.
Existing programs which challenge racism
Often attempts to deal with problems within the community are not given due credit. Some programs cited were:
- Participants involved in community work explained how they were charting pockets of emerging immigrant communities in order to assess whether there are established support networks there.
- Projects can be set up that bring women's groups and interests together, for example, the inter-faith "Say no to prejudice" project, and the "Mentoring training" project that various religious groups had been given funding to trial.
- The Spokeswoman's system at Western Area Health is an example of a mentoring system at work, however women also need this type of mentor outside of work.
Theme 4: Provision of effective remedies, recourse, redress, [compensatory] [2] and other measures at the national, regional and international levels.
It was noted that many social systems in Australia were colonial in structure, for example, the legal system which is often inaccessible to migrant and refugee women for a variety of cultural and linguistic reasons. This proves a further problem when the only definition of racism is a legal one.
The current system of law is tokenistic, however at the moment the law is the only thing we have, and people will control their behaviour if they know they will be penalised. Others said that our discrimination laws, as they currently stand, are not strong enough to provide avenues of recourse for individuals unless the racism is overt. Even then it is not easy, for example, Pauline Hanson got away with it.
Many women said that they were not comfortable using the legal system, so they do not use laws that are available to them. They are also often afraid to speak up. The women in attendance also claimed they were dissatisfied with the current complaints process. They felt that the Anti-Discrimination Board dealt with issues too slowly. Some women do not have the emotional and economic resources to continue, for example, a single mother would think firstly of feeding herself and her child rather than spending time and money on a case, and risk being fired.
There needs to be more publicity of successful Anti-Discrimination Board cases to encourage others to speak out. Similarly penalties needed to be harsher. There could be automatic fines for racial vilification or incitement. Making the complaints process swifter and easier was also identified as a major need, for example, many women had stories of how it is hard to speak out about discrimination, abuse and vilification because they often incur disbelief and/or punishment. These women often sought their own solutions, which was usually to find alternative employment.
A public tribunal was suggested, so people could publicly air their grievances, and victims of racism could be recognised. This would expose the systemic nature of racism, as well as contributing to personal healing.
Unions need to do more
The group felt that union representatives did not help enough, and that they often took the employer's side. The solution may be to create harsher laws and proper, more clear-cut penalties.
More political accountability
The women felt that structural change was needed, that those at the top needed to change first. It was expressed that the behaviour of those in positions of power needed to be monitored, and punishment enforced, otherwise racism is effectively sanctioned by legislative and legal structures. There was a general call for increased accountability in all areas.
Theme 5: Strategies to achieve full and effective equality, including international cooperation and enhancement of the United Nations and other international mechanisms in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and follow-up.
There was no discussion on this theme.
Recommendations
1. Overhaul of the anti-discrimination complaints process, including tougher punishments for those who violate laws.
2. Cultural awareness training for service providers, teachers and the private sector.
3. Increase Mentoring and direction for migrant and refugee women in leadership positions.
4. An enforceable and consistent media code of conduct.
5. Stronger union support for women who choose to expose racism/sexism in the workplace.
6. Ongoing interagency programmes.
7. Creation of and funding for specialised bodies for women from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds.
8. A focus on migrant and refugee women's issues within mainstream agencies.
9. An investigation into the accessibility of government services.
10. Community education programmes which raise awareness of the experiences of migrant and refugee women.
11. Cultural awareness and sensitivity programmes in early education curriculum.
12. Australia to sign the optional protocols.
1. The commission would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Immigrant Women's Speakout in the consultation process.
2.
Note: The word compensatory was in brackets as there was no consensus
among governments to include it under this theme.
