“We suggest that the difference in knowledge (of breast cancer screening) between language groups arose from indirect discrimination in the way in which health-related information is disseminated in British society.”

“We report here preliminary evidence that minority women suffer from indirect discrimination, which may not only explain their reportedly low screening acceptance, but which is also amenable to intervention that may result in higher acceptance.”

“The results of the Leicester Inner-City Survey show that substantial proportions of women in Leicester inner-city neighborhoods had some knowledge about breast cancer and screening, yet there were significantly fewer non-English-speaking women with such knowledge.”

“We suggest that this is an example of indirect (institutional) discrimination, defined in the 1976 Race Relations Act as occurring When a requirement or condition is applied equally to all people, but the proportion of people in a particular racial group who can comply with the requirement is unusually small; and the requirement/ condition is not justifiable irrespective of whom it is applied to; and is to the detriment of the person who cannot comply with it.”

“Discrimination in the delivery of a service is not easy to define, and indirect of institutional racism is often difficult to identify. Indirect racism can occur because a service or practice is “carrying on as usual,” but these everyday norms may not be fulfilling the needs of all members of society.”