RCGP Safeguarding toolkit

Discriminatory abuse

This includes:

• unequal treatment based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex or sexual orientation (known as ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act 2010)
• verbal abuse, derogatory remarks or inappropriate use of language related to a protected characteristic
• denying access to communication aids, not allowing access to an interpreter, signer or lip-reader
• harassment or deliberate exclusion on the grounds of a protected characteristic
• denying basic rights to healthcare, education, employment, and criminal justice relating to a protected characteristic
• substandard service provision relating to a protected characteristic.

Signs and indicators include:

• the person appears withdrawn and isolated
• expressions of anger, frustration, fear, or anxiety
• the support on offer does not take account of the person’s individual needs in terms of a protected characteristic.