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We believe that everyone has the right to live and work without threat of harassment and discrimination. This can range from offensive language, verbal abuse and graffiti through to physical assault and damage to property.  If someone tells us that they have been the victim of discrimination, we will treat the matter seriously and sensitively.

We want to know if you have been affected by, or witnessed, an incident of discrimination at Devon County Council.

Knowing what happens can help us understand the issues that people are facing and develop strategies to stop them happening again.

If you are the victim of discrimination you can make a formal complaint (if you are a service user or member of the public) using the Council's complaints process, or use the Council's grievance procedure (if you are a member of staff).

If your complaint is with a School, you will need to contact the School directly. A different reporting process applies to School Pupils.  Devon's Children's Trust has published information for schools on preventing and responding to prejudice-related bullying.

You can also complete a Discriminatory Incident Report Form (word version)  (also available as a PDF (44KB - pdf help)).  You can use this form to report incidents that have affected you or others anonymously.  Information is used for monitoring purposes only and general recommendations (not specific to your situation) for employment or service improvements may be made – for example, if there is a pattern of incidents.  Care is taken so that individuals will not be identified in any monitoring reports.   therefore, this process does not directly resolve incidents but provides individuals an opportunity to 'speak up'.  There is further guidance on the form about taking direct action and signposting to support services.

You can post the form to the Corporate Equality Officer at the following address:  Organisational Development, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 4QU. You can also submit the online version of the leaflet below by emailing it to equality@devon.gov.uk.

A range of support is available for people who experience discrimination and more information is provided on the form.

Safer Devon

Through the Safer Devon Partnership, we are working with partners to tackle prejudice and hate crime across Devon.  

What is hate crime?

Hate crime is any offence committed against a person or property that is motivated by the offender's hatred of people because of their association with one or more of the equality strands. For example, you can be a victim of hate crime because of your race, religion, disability, age, sexuality or gender.

Why report a hate crime?

You can:

• help the council and the police to understand patterns of behaviour
• provide a true picture of what is happening within your community
• help police investigate an incident which may contribute to an arrest and/or prosecution
• help prevent these types of crimes happening to someone else

More information on hate crime.

If you have been a victim of prejudice/hate crime there are a number of ways you can report an incident and receive support. For example:

• Police
• Victim Support (National Helpline 0845 30 30 900)
• Intercom Trust (for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people)
• Devon Racial Equality Council
• The Monitoring Group (Racism)