conducted with Asian people corroborates this finding. The following sections will first
summarise the discrimination that Asian people have reported experiencing in public places,
and second will review the reports on the barriers Asians face in gaining equal access to
employment based on their ethnicity.
Source: Department of Labour, 2009
2. Harassment in Public
Many publications have been released in New Zealand that provide anecdotal accounts of
harassment experienced by Asian people in public places. This usually takes the form of
racist epithets uttered by passers-by or in more extreme form by having eggs thrown at them
on street corners or drinks spilled on them at bars. The following sections review the
literature on harassment towards Asian people and provide direct quotes describing their
experiences where possible.
2.1 Korean Experiences in Christchurch and Auckland
Thirty-six Korean migrants were interviewed about their experiences in Christchurch, and
nearly all of them reported having been on the receiving end of some harassment since they
arrived in the city. There were many reports of verbal abuse, including the oft-uttered
sentiment of “go back where you came from”. The more physical abuse included eggs and
stones being thrown at them or their cars. They reported that most (but not all) of the
harassment was inflicted on them by teenagers.
One woman told the interviewers that she would go for daily walks and be harassed every
other day:
“They used their middle finger and used the f-word and … like Asian
bitch, like that, those kind of things. Always are horrid, whenever I walk.”
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