Discrimination and Harassment in Scotland, results from the 2023 Scottish Household Survey

Introduction

In previous years, Scottish Household Survey (SHS) results were published in an annual cross-cutting report. For the 2023 survey year and onwards this will be replaced by the publication of SHS results on the SHS Data Explorer, and more focused topic-based reports that are able to provide a more in-depth analysis.

This topic report highlights key findings on discrimination and harassment from the 2023 SHS results. The 2023 SHS asked respondents if they have been unfairly treated in any aspect of their life or discriminated against because they belong to a particular group. Discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic. The survey also asked participants if they personally experienced harassment or abuse in Scotland. Harassment occurs when a person is subjected to unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that violates their dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Note that respondents answered the questions based on their personal perceived experiences.

Another Scottish Government population survey, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS), also collects information on experiences of discrimination and harassment. As questions are asked in a different survey context, any similar measures should not be directly compared to SHS findings

An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

These statistics are official statistics. Official statistics are statistics that are produced by crown bodies, those acting on behalf of crown bodies, or those specified in statutory orders, as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Scottish Government statistics are regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

More information about Scottish Government statistics is available on the Scottish Government website.