There have been more incidents of discrimination and bias-related harassment of South Asians, Arabs and Muslims in the city since September 11 than has been reported, a New York City Commission of Human Rights report reveals.

Last month, the commission released its first report on such incidents: "Discrimination against Muslims, Arabs and South Asians in New York City since 9/11.” It was based on an anonymous multilingual survey conducted in all five boroughs.

The report documents perceived incidents of discrimination in areas covered by the city's Human Rights Law: employment, housing, public accommodation and bias-related harassment or violence. For the survey, “perceived incidents” meant that victims believed they were subject to discrimination or bias, but they did not report the incident to authorities.

Out of over 11,000 surveys distributed between October 2002

and April of this year, the commission received 956 completed surveys. A total of 659 individuals noted 1224 incidents. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents were South Asian, second only to Arabs. The survey was conducted in English, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi and Urdu.

"We knew there had been incidents of discrimination but we wanted to find out why [so few] people came forward. Perhaps they had some fear or lack of knowledge," Betsy Herzog, a senior official at the commission, told India Abroad.

The report said that in many cases the respondents felt that nothing would be done, even if they did report such instances. "The target groups clearly need more information about their rights and considerable encouragement to exercise them," it stated.

Bias-related harassment comprised 37 percent of the incidents, followed by employment discrimination at 26 percent, and public accommodation at 25 percent; housing discrimination represented the remaining 11 percent of the incidents.

According to the report, survey results seem to confirm advocates’ concerns that discrimination increased after 9/11. Publicity surrounding the countries and religion of the 9/11 terrorists may have caused the alleged perpetrators to become aware of dress, appearance and behavior associated with people from the Middle East. The report quoted an unnamed Hindu woman: “It put our culture in the spotlight. We now have to constantly explain ourselves to curious people.”

"We take these complaints seriously whether they have been reported formally or not." Herzog said. "We believe there have been people who have suffered or continue to suffer every day on the streets, on the subways, at work," she said.

The commission came out with a five-point recommendation for

government agencies and community organizations. It includes creating tolerance and respect in the city, participation of people from Muslim, South Asian and Arab communities in civic affairs and, most importantly, the entrance of these community members to public service positions such as firefighters, police and other government jobs. "We believe people from these communities need to get more visibility in public life," Herzog said.

The Human Rights Commission is committed to enforcing the law to the maximum extent possible, using the city’s resources to fight prejudice and discrimination. "We knew people were afraid to come forward, so we went into these communities and asked if their lives had changed since 9/11 and how," Commissioner Patricia Gatling said.

Asked if more such crimes would have been reported if people had more faith in government agencies, or if people had more information about their rights, Herzog avoided a direct reply.

"It is hard for me to say," Herzog responded. "Our job is to educate. But I would think if government agencies were trusted or people were aware of the law, we might have seen more people reporting such incidents."