Responding to and reporting racism
Guidance on how to respond to incidents of racism and how to report them.
Racial discrimination means being treated unfairly because of your race. Race includes your skin colour, nationality, and ethnic or national background. Discrimination and other harmful behaviours are never acceptable or tolerated at Scouts.
At Scouts, we expect everyone to act in line with our Scout values of care, co-operation, integrity, respect and belief. This means we:
- Think before we speak and act, because we know our words and actions can hurt others.
- Celebrate our differences and know that working together helps us problem solve in creative ways.
- Take responsibility for our words, actions and mistakes. We always try to do better.
- Actively listen to others and their experiences and reflect on what we can learn.
- Are curious and open to exploring others’ beliefs and cultures.
It's important we all play our part in responding appropriately to harmful or racist attitudes and behaviours to help make Scouts a safer and more inclusive place for everyone. By following the Scout Promise and our Law and Values, and speaking up against racism and discrimination, we can help people feel supported and help create a safe and inclusive space.
What is discrimination?
Discrimination can show up in many ways. In simple terms, discrimination is treating someone unfairly because of their protected characteristics (see POR 2a.3 for a full list of protected characteristics or things that can make up your identity at Scouts).
Some forms of discrimination, such as using racial slurs, can sometimes be easy to spot. Other forms can be harder to notice, for example, when policies, practices or everyday comments reflect people’s assumptions, biases or prejudices.
What to do if you witness racism or discrimination
If you notice racism or discrimination, it’s important you take it seriously. Discriminatory behaviour, attitudes, and language should be addressed, even if they don’t directly affect anyone present.
If it’s safe to do so, you can informally address discrimination by raising it with the person involved. Remember, someone experiencing discrimination may not always be able to respond on their own. It’s okay to make mistakes; the important thing is to try your best, keep learning and help keep people safe.
- Act with compassion.
- Follow the Scout Promise and our Law and Values, and remind the person of these too.
- Avoid making assumptions. The person may be open to learning and improving.
- Use our guidance on talking about race and racism to address learning needs. Sometimes harmful attitudes come from a lack of awareness.
- Share relevant policies. You may want to remind the person of our Equal Opportunities Policy, Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy, the Yellow Card, or your local Code of Conduct, if you have one.
- Check in with the person affected. Ask if there’s anything you can do to support them. Use our guidance on supporting people who’ve experienced racism.
Use the four-step approach
- Start by clearing up the situation. Did they mean what you thought they meant?
- Describe how you feel because of what happened. If the incident didn’t happen to you, explain how the behaviour could affect others.
- Suggest what you’d like to happen. For example, ‘I’d like you to get to know this person instead of making assumptions,’ or ‘I’d like you to apologise for using inappropriate language and agree not to use it again.’
- Check if they’re willing to follow your request. For example, you could ask ‘Can you do that?’ or ‘Do you understand why I’m asking you to do this?’
Here are some suggestions and examples you may wish to use when explaining how someone’s behaviour may affect others.
- ‘This is harmful and relies on stereotypes.’
- ‘This could’ve made [insert name] feel uncomfortable and they might not want to keep coming to Scouts.’
- ‘Some people associate this type of language with feeling unsafe and scared.’
- ‘Acting in this (be specific about their behaviours) way doesn’t make people feel welcome at Scouts.’
EXAMPLE: Using the four-step approach
Temitope is a new volunteer in her local Cubs Section. She’s told the team that she prefers her full name as she’s very proud of her Nigerian heritage. Some of the volunteers have started calling her ‘Tee’ because they feel her full name is “too hard to pronounce”. Andi, the Section Team Leader, uses the four-step approach to discuss this with the volunteers.
Clear up the situation: “Why are you calling Temitope 'Tee' instead of her name?”
Explain the impact: “Saying her name is ‘too hard’ suggests her heritage isn’t important or worth respecting. This isn’t in line with our Scout values and doesn’t help us create a welcoming space.”
Suggest change needed: “I’d like you to use Temitope’s full name going forward.”
Check understanding: “Can I help you learn how to pronounce Temitope’s name correctly?”
Even though Temitope wasn’t in the room for this conversation, it’s important to address harmful attitudes, behaviour and language when they happen.
What to do if someone tells you they've experienced racism or discrimination
If someone tells you they’ve experienced racism or discrimination, listen to and work with them to respond to the incident appropriately. Racist behaviour, attitudes and language aren’t acceptable at Scouts. Use our guidance to support the person who’s experienced racism.
Racism and discrimination may happen in different contexts, for example, between two young people or between a volunteer and a young person. Depending on who’s involved, you may need to respond differently.
- Involve parents and carers in conversations about the incident. Arrange to meet with young people and their parents or carers outside of the regular meeting time.
- Remind the parents and young person that we don’t accept harmful behaviour, attitudes and language at Scouts, and refer to our Scout Promise and our Law and Values.
- Explain why the behaviour was harmful. You could say something like, ‘What you said relied on a harmful stereotype about their race’, or ‘You’ve made an assumption based on their race.’ Use the four-step approach to help you.
- Use our guidance on talking about race and racism to help the young person learn and do better.
- Remind everyone about the importance of everyone feeling safe and celebrated at Scouts.
- Refer to our guidance on anti-bullying or your local Code of Conduct, if you have one.
Codes of conduct
- If there’s a code of conduct in place, remind the young person of the group agreement.
- Inform the young person and their parents or carers of any relevant consequences for this incident, and what will happen if the behaviour is repeated in the future.
- If the discriminatory behaviour isn’t currently captured by the code of conduct, use this as an opportunity to review and amend the group agreement.
- Use the opportunity to remind the Section of the agreement, but don’t single anyone out.
You may want to talk about the impact of harmful attitudes, behaviour, and language with the entire Section. You could run an activity to learn how everyone plays a role in making people feel welcomed and included at Scouts.
Be mindful that some young people and volunteers in your Section may find these conversations difficult, particularly if they or someone close to them has experienced discrimination. Make sure they know they can talk to you about any feelings the conversation has raised.
For incidents of discrimination or racism between volunteers, follow the Complaints process. This process includes guidance on resolving incidents informally in the first instance.
Use our guidance on supporting people who’ve experienced racism.
When talking to the person who’s used discriminatory or racist language or acted in a discriminatory way, you may want to talk about:
- Our Scout Promise and Law and Values
- Our Equal Opportunities Policy
- Our Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy
Depending on the severity of the incident, you may want to carry out a formal role review.
You must speak to parents and carers of all young people involved in discriminatory or racist incidents. Arrange to meet with them outside of the regular meeting time. Refer to our Scout Promise and our Law and Values, and your local Code of Conduct, if you have one.
If a volunteer has displayed discriminatory or racist behaviours or attitudes towards a young person, you must follow the Yellow Card and report it to the Safeguarding Team within 24 hours. The Safeguarding Team will work with you, the volunteer, the young person and their parents or carers to reach a resolution.
If a young person has displayed discriminatory or racist behaviours or attitudes towards a volunteer, it’s important you take the volunteer’s concerns seriously. Meet with them to discuss a solution and next steps. Make it clear that:
- Harmful behaviour, attitudes and language aren’t acceptable at Scouts.
- They deserve to feel safe while volunteering.
- We expect all our members to act in line with our Scout Promise and Law and Values.
How to report racism and discrimination
Report direct discrimination, as well as any situation that can’t be resolved informally.
Direct discrimination happens when someone is treated unfairly because of their identity. POR 2a.3 contains a full list of protected characteristics (things that could make up someone’s identity).
You can:
- Report discrimination to the Support Centre.
- Report discrimination through our Complaints Process.
Some incidents of discrimination could be a safeguarding concern and need to be reported in line with the Yellow Card. You can contact the Safeguarding team for advice if you’re not sure.
Remember, someone who’s subjected to a hate crime is the victim of a criminal offence. Check out Citizens’ Advice’s guidance on how to report a hate crime.
Ask for help
No one expects you to be an expert. If you need help responding to or reporting racism, speak to your Team Leader, Lead Volunteer, Volunteering Development Team, someone you trust, or the Support Centre.
Read our guidance on supporting people who've experienced racism and discrimination.
