Prepare to be Offended Everywhere: How Cultural Safety In Public Places Can Prevent Violent Attacks

Abstract

The greater mobility of people and the worldwide displacement of millions, forced or voluntary, has directed attention to their human security in foreign environments. We propose that a focus on cultural safety is becoming an essential requirement for the human security of displaced minorities everywhere, building on previous work in educational settings [6]. As a necessary though insufficient condition for human security, cultural safety is affected by dependency relationships, power imbalances, dominant paradigms, and norms of public conduct as they apply to displaced cultural minorities. The central question how cultural safety could be enhanced is addressed through empirical scenarios where the cultural safety of individuals was placed in jeopardy. Such events often manifest as the perception of offence, sometimes leading to violent conflict. Recognizing the futility of attempts to prevent all and any offence, our arguments amount to a novel approach to strengthen cultural safety, and thus human security: preparing both sides for offensive experiences as a means to pre-empt counterproductive reactions. We discuss strategies toward that goal that might allow individuals, families, larger groups and organizations to work collaboratively towards ensuring the cultural safety of displaced people, thus making a vital contribution towards sustainable human security.

Migrants Meet Europeans

“…• Neglect of the rights and dignity of women; violation of governments' duty of care when covering up sex crimes committed by immigrants, withholding them from the media, and obfuscating them with disingenuous rhetoric. The latter manifestation of government failure seems particularly appalling; details of the Rotherham incidents and similar occurrences are described in Lautensach & Lautensach [4]. Murray notes that in the UK not a single prosecution for female genital mutilation has been successful despite it being illegal for three decades and despite the number of victims having reached 130,000.…”

“…The moral benefits of such an analysis and of its conclusions justify that it is explicated and its political ramifications be publically discussed. That still does not amount to vilification, at least to anyone who has learned to tolerate what at face value might feel like an offence [4].…”

“…Abrupt political change in Europe could easily occur when electorates tire of governmental failure and deception (p. 317). Another condition would be that the most belligerent sections on both sides keep failing to 'learn to be offended' [4]. The resulting moral backlash and political upheaval could have disastrous consequences for innocent bystanders on all sides, reducing further the range of political options for successive administrations (chapter 15).…”

Editorial Volume 12

“…Elsewhere we have proposed concrete measures how both newcomers and host societies can 'prepare to be offended' [1]. The concept of cultural safety allows for the analysis of challenges and offers prescriptive strategies for minimising sources of insecurity for ethnocultural minorities in disparate host societies.…”

Editorial for Journal of Human Security Volume 11

“…In fact, the occurrence of such offences is a statistical certainty. We have suggested elsewhere that the only effective measure to prevent violent reactions is for individuals and groups to "prepare to be offended", primarily through educational means [6].…”