During August and September 2020, GREC conducted a survey to gather feedback from people with protected characteristics to feed into Aerdeen City Council’s Equality Outcomes. The survey was complemented by a series of focus groups held in October and November. In total, over 200 people took part.
One section of the survey focused on civic life, asking participants about voting and other civic activities, including responding to consultations, signing petitions, writing to elected representatives or getting involved with community councils, political parties, trade unions or campaigning groups. 60% of ethnic minority participants reported voting in an election, and 53% had engaged in other civic activities. These were significantly lower percentages than for Scottish/British participants, of whom 90% reported voting in an election and 74% had engaged in other civic activities.
Nearly a quarter of ethnic minority participants felt excluded from civic engagement because of their ethnicity or nationality. For some, this was due to language issues, lack of familiarity with the political system, or not knowing how to get involved. For others, not being allowed to vote discouraged them other forms of civic activity. In comments, participants described being ignored or dismissed because of their ethnicity, and some were concerned about political involvement putting their immigration status at risk.
Data Source: 2020, .
Category: Qualitative Data
Topics: Aberdeen City Citizenship Ethnicity Immigration Participation