Public survey for "people in Guernsey to provide evidence"

Wednesday 02 March 2022

Islanders are being encouraged to share their experiences of discrimination, harassment and hate speech via a new survey.

Liberate Chief Executive Ellie Jones, who identifies as non-binary, created the survey to counter arguments that discrimination does not happen locally ahead of a States’ debate this summer on anti-discrimination legislation.

“There are always people who say that discrimination does not happen in Guernsey, but that is a complete misconception,” they said. 

Pictured: Liberate Chief Executive Ellie Jones.

Mx Jones said they were prompted to create the survey after seeing a report shared on the website of the Guernsey Policy & Economic Group, a local think tank run by Lord Digby Jones and Connie Helyar-Wilkinson among others. 

“The report was by Voisin Law after a review of one of the early drafts of the anti-discrimination legislation,” said Mx Jones. 

“The report started: 'There is no evidence of a discrimination problem in Guernsey'. The reason there is no evidence is because there is nowhere for people to give their evidence.

“This survey is a place where people in Guernsey can provide this evidence.”

Mx Jones said that responses received to date showed that 85% of the incidents of discrimination identified went unreported at the time they happened. 

“There are a lot of barriers to reporting discrimination. The responses received have commented that they didn’t make reports because they didn’t know where to go to do so, because they didn’t think anything would be done or because they knew that there are no anti-discrimination laws,” they said.

Pictured: Liberate Trustee Deputy Charles Parkinson.

Deputy Charles Parkinson, a Trustee of Liberate, agreed that discrimination is a problem in Guernsey. 

“Discrimination does happen in Guernsey. We know that it does. There are Citizens Advice reports proving that it does,” he said. 

“Unfortunately, when this issue was last discussed by States’ members, some far-right deputies said that discrimination doesn’t happen.

“Staggeringly, Deputy Mark Helyar was one of those deputies. He is the Chair of Citizens Advice Guernsey, the very organisation that has provided evidence of discrimination in Guernsey.” 

A 2020 Citizens Advice report relating to the previous year evidenced that there were 21 campaign issues relating to discrimination in Guernsey. 

An annual discrimination report is produced by Citizens Advice Guernsey. It was not made available to Express in time for publication.

Pictured: Deputy Charles Parkinson said that anti-discrimination legislation is needed to protect everyone in the community.

Deputy Parkinson encouraged islanders to complete the survey. 

“Discrimination clearly does happen in Guernsey and we need the public to tell us their stories so we can prove to other States’ Deputies that people are suffering,” he said. 

“If we are able to provide this evidence then we can shut down the arguments that some Deputies continue to make that discrimination is not a problem here.”

Deputy Parkinson supports anti-discrimination legislation which is currently in the final stages of development by the Committee for Employment & Social Security. However, it is expected to face determined opposition from some deputies when it is presented to the States this summer. 

“Guernsey is clearly lagging behind the rest of the world in respect of protecting people on the grounds of sex, race, religion, disability or any other protected characteristic,” said Deputy Parkinson.

Pictured: The Committee for Employment & Social Security expects the final draft of proposed new anti-discrimination legislation to be presented to the States for debate this summer. 

“It is important also to remember that those discriminated against are not always in the minority. Women are frequently discriminated against despite being a majority in society.”

Mx Jones said they had faced harassment in Guernsey and know others with similar experiences.

“I have been harassed by being shouted at in the street and asked hugely inappropriate questions. I know people who have faced discrimination as well as harassment," they said. 

“This survey is not only for members of the LGBTQ+ community, but anyone in Guernsey who has been discriminated against for any reason.

“Guernsey is not immune from any issue and discrimination is just as rife here as anywhere else.

“We need people to share their experiences so that we can prove what we already know.”

You can complete the survey HERE.