English
Everyone has the right to live free from racism and discrimination under the law and international human rights legislation. However, racial and ethnic discrimination occur on a daily basis for so many people.
We are grounded in the anti-racism movement, speaking out against racism and injustice experienced by black and minority ethnic (BME) people. As such, we are active in efforts to end racism locally, nationally and in Europe.
Local work
Due to changing dynamics in Rotherham and the impact on the BME communities, we have become a leading voice in challenging racism, whether that is faced by women themselves or the local communities, at a local, national and European level.
From 2014 onwards, it became apparent that there was a huge bias regarding child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, and that the only context was ‘Asian men targeting white girls’. We know this is not true as we have been supporting service users who have experienced CSE by men of other nationalities too. We have defended Asian, Muslim and Pakistani men who are too often labelled child sexual exploiters because of their ethnicity. As a result, we have been able to establish ourselves within the male Pakistani and other BME communities as a defender against racism, which has created a lot more support for the work that we undertake among men and male-led organisations.
‘Get over the shock, this is reality’: challenging racism and violence against women and girls in Rotherham
BME women and girls have been severely affected by the toxic debate on child sexual abuse in Rotherham, particularly those from the Pakistani Muslim community. A cloud of stigma and anti-Muslim racism hangs over the town, and the people who live here.
Our CEO, Zlakha Ahmed, was interviewed by the Institute of Race Relations about Apna Haq’s work under such a climate and debate.
In the interview, she discusses what an anti-racist feminist approach to tacking child sexual abuse involves and what resistance looks like on the ground.
“…as well as fuelling racism, the toxic racialised narrative around child sexual exploitation (CSE) has erased BAME survivors who don’t fit the white female victim/Asian male offender stereotype.”
National work
The UK currently does not have a National Plan Against Racism (NAPAR). A NAPAR is a programme of activities that aim to improve the promotion of racial equality. Learnings from other European countries with NAPARs show that having a plan can:
- Improve the country’s alignment with international human rights standards
- Improve the country’s accountability to implementing human rights
- Raise awareness for human rights.
We are passionate about being part of the movement building towards a NAPAR development in the UK. As such, we are meeting with the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) to discuss what efforts are needed to initiate discussions and receive guidance from them.
We are particularly interested in contributing to discussions around racism that exists in the women’s sector. We are therefore exploring the possibility of collaboration and coalition building with other violence against women and girls (VAWG) agencies in the UK to take this work forward.
Interested? Please get in touch >>
European work
Our CEO, Zlakha Ahmed, is a member of the Board of ENAR, where she contributes to the strategic oversight of this anti-racism movement in Europe.
Zlakha is also active in delivering workshops and trainings for ENAR, on subjects such as non-violent communication (NVC) and Islam: challenging Islamophobia.
Read this blog by Zlakha for ENAR:Intersectionality at the heart of working on violence against women and girls>>