At the end of October 2020, a young black woman was verbally assaulted by several men on a night bus in Huchting. When she resisted, she was beaten up. At first, this incident seemed to be an outrageous isolated incident. However, through the day-to-day work of the Bremen Council for Integration (BRI), there is certainly more knowledge of additional incidents of experienced forms of racially motivated violence and everyday racism in Bremen, which, however, do not reach the public. In order to improve the data situation concerning this, a cooperation project between the Bremen Council for Integration (BRI), Ikram Errahmouni-Rimi (Diversity and Anti-Discrimination Officer of the Bremen Police Force), and Dr. Margrit E. Kaufmann (cultural researcher and diversity expert at the University of Bremen) was developed.
What Do People Who Are Perceived as "Foreign" Experience?
In the project, students of cultural studies, supported by the cooperation partners, investigated the occurrence and experience of prejudice-led crimes against persons and groups labelled as "foreign" in Bremen's urban space as part of a seminar on research-based learning held by Dr. Margrit E. Kaufmann.
Fifty students from the bachelor's program in Cultural Studies and the master's program in Transcultural Studies participated in the study. It was based on an anonymous quantitative survey and qualitative interviews in which people reported their experiences of racist discrimination and violence.
"The study provides insight into perspectives of people living in Bremen who are affected by prejudice-led violence," says University of Bremen cultural studies professor Dr. Margit E. Kaufmann. "Those affected, for example, often stated that they were not helped in sensitive situations by witnesses. This shows that more education and protective measures are needed."
Presentation of the Study at Theater Bremen
The results of the study will be presented publicly for the first time at the event "What You Don't See" ("Was ihr nicht seht") on May 17, 2022, at Theater Bremen. The event is co-sponsored by the University of Bremen Foundation. Afterwards, experts will discuss the topic of "Prejudiced Crimes and Data Collection as a Prevention Measure."
The Schedule:
5:00 p.m. Welcome by the Chairwoman of the Bremen Council for Integration: Naciye Çelebi-Bektaş
5.10 p.m. Keynote speech by Dr. Cihan Sinanoglu, Head of the National Discrimination and Racism Monitor (NaDiRa) of the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZiM e.V.).
5.30 p.m. Presentation of research results by students of Cultural Studies and graduates of the Master's program in Transcultural Studies at the University of Bremen
6.00 p.m. Panel discussion: Data on prejudice-related crimes - prevention and consequences?
Panelists: Dr. Cihan Sinanoglu (National Discrimination and Racism Monitor), Dr. Margrit E. Kaufmann (Cultural Studies, University of Bremen), Bianca Wambach (Bremen Police Force), N.N. (Bremen Council for Integration)
Moderation: Libuse Cerna, Bremen Council for Integration
Further Information:
Please register by May 13 by sending an email to cacanprotect me ?!drk-bremenprotect me ?!.de.
https://www.uni-bremen.de/kultur/profil/aktuelles/detailansicht/was-ihr-nicht-seht
Contact:
Dr. Margrit E. Kaufmann
Department of Anthropology and Cultural Research (IfEK)
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-67631
Email: mkaufmprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
