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Just last week, advocacy group Asian Australian Alliance (AAA) launched its “COVID-19 Racism Incident Report – Comprehensive Report 2021″ with a press conference. The report is now publicly available on the AAA website to download, but here are a few key statistics:
TYPES OF INCIDENTS
PLEASE NOTE: Respondents were able to select more than one category. Percentages reflect this variable.
- Direct racial slur/name calling (“Go back to China”, “Stop eating bats/dogs”, “Ching Chong” etc) (35.7%)
- Online harassment (25.7%)
- Making it out as a joke (13.1%) – i.e., making a racist targeted comment/statement and then laughing it off and/or dismissing it as not being racist but just joking around.
- Verbal threats (8.9%) – i.e. making a targeted racist comment/statement with verbal intent to cause harm
- Getting spat/sneezed/coughed on (7.78%)
- Physical intimidation/harassment (7.03%)
- Shunning (6.5%) – i.e. deliberate avoidance/exclusion of Asians/Asian Australians
- Workplace discrimination (2.2%)
LOCATION OF INCIDENTS
PLEASE NOTE: Respondents were able to select more than one category. Percentages reflect this variable.
- Public street/sidewalk (27.1%)
- Business: supermarket/grocery store/general stores (15.1%)
- Public Transport (9.6%)
- Shopping centres (8.7%)
- Public park/community areas (6.2%)
- Restaurants/bars/public food areas (5.4%).
OTHER TRENDS
- In terms of gender, those who identified as female (60.1%) were the largest number of respondents, followed by those who identified as male (34.1%). Respondents who identified as self described – i.e. those who did not identify as being female or male – constituted (3.8%) of respondents.
- Respondents who identified as having a Chinese cultural background (52%) reported more incidents than other races or ethnic groups, followed by Vietnamese (8.38%), Malaysian (4.5%), Korean (6.5%), Singaporean (2.1%) and Filipino (3.2%). Note that respondents were able to select multiple cultural backgrounds and identities.
- For respondents who identified as international students (12.3%), (95.2%) were of Mainland Chinese background.
- (85.9%) of respondents reported that they did not know the perpetrator, indicating that the majority of incidents were perpetrated by strangers.
- In terms of reporting to the authorities – i.e. reporting to the police or any type of regulatory body, (84.8%) reported that they did not report their incident.