Racism in Moscow

In August 2009, the Moscow Protestant Community ( Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy ) released data from an annual survey of blacks living in Moscow (surveys have been conducted since 2002).

This year, 209 people from 36 countries took part in the survey, 206 of whom are from Africa (one person each represented Afghanistan, India and Indonesia).

Attitude towards blacks

61% of respondents rated the attitude of Muscovites towards people of other races as bad and very bad, and only 8% - as good or very good (in 2002, 91% of respondents rated the attitude as "bad", including 53% - as "very bad"). ").

6% of respondents - stated that they are subjected to insults and aggression on average once a week

12% - at least once a month.

Another 14.5% said they were insulted and harassed "very often".

33% said they constantly hear racist remarks (it should not be forgotten that some people do not speak Russian or do not speak it well enough to fully appreciate the nature of racist statements (compare, for example, with the episode considered in the Hour of Judgment program " )). Only 3% of those surveyed said they had never experienced racist abuse.

The impact of racism on everyday life

88.5% of respondents noted that racism, one way or another, affects their daily lives. In particular:

53.5% said they avoid taking the subway late

42.5% - that they try not to go outside at night, as well as on city holidays and football matches,

31.5% - that certain areas of the city are considered unsafe,

24.5% are afraid of the police and, in general, any government officials.

Violence

58% of the respondents said that during their life in Russia they were subjected to physical violence at least once, 41% - that this happened to them over the past year. Moreover, 19 people became victims of violence and insults 3-5 times, and 12 people - at least 9 times.

At the same time, in 77% of cases, the victims did not apply to law enforcement agencies for various reasons. In other cases, only in 4% of cases the perpetrators were found and convicted. Those. simple arithmetic calculation shows that only one or two cases reached the court). Describing the attitude of the police, the respondents point out, in particular, that they became objects of racist insults by law enforcement officers (“they react to complaints with phrases like: “If you don’t like it, go home, bananas don’t grow in Russia!”) .

Of the 102 attacks reported by survey participants, 59 were committed by men aged 18-25, and another 25 by men aged 25 to 40. In 80 cases, the attackers acted in groups. Only in 26 cases were they obviously drunk. In 30 cases, edged weapons were used - knives, brass knuckles, sticks, baseball bats, bottlenecks.

Report on Racial Violence and Harassment // Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy. 2009. August 31

Sources

• Krechetnikov Artem. It's not safe to be an African in Moscow // BBC (Russian service). 2009. August 31.