Are you are suffering racial harassment or racial discrimination?

Do you need support or someone to talk to confidentially?

A key function of RESPECT is to provide a Support-Line. This is the initial contact point for staff that may be suffering from racial harassment or discrimination to request a trained listener to support them. The RESPECT Support-Line is open to all members of HM Prison Service. We have chosen not to publish the Support-Line telephone number on this website to avoid any abuse. However, the telephone number is well publicised within HM Prison Service buildings and on the HM Prison Service Intranet site.

RESPECT was developed to tackle the high levels of perceived discrimination felt amongst minority ethnic staff within HM Prison Service. The RESPECT free phone Support-Line was launched in April 2001, to assist with ‘The increasing number of racial discrimination complaints’. RESPECT Contact Officers are volunteers and may be uniformed or civilian members of HM Prison Service staff. RESPECT Contact Officers have been trained to provide support to the callers and are not counsellors or lawyers. RESPECT Contact Officers do not give definitive advice but act as a sympathetic ear and discuss options available to the aggrieved member of staff. If any other external agencies can better assist, the caller will be informed of these options.

Though the Support-Line is a completely confidential service, the statistical data gathered will help RESPECT to prioritise issues and recognise more easily, specific problem areas around the Service.