Christchurch woman and six-year-old son racially abused

Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon.

By The Panel on RNZ

A Christchurch woman was racially abused while with her six-year-old son during a road rage incident.

Maryam Frozan and her son were accosted during the incident in a Hornby carpark.

Frozan told Stuff that a 60-year-old woman walked over to her car, put her head in the window and verbally abused her and her son including telling him go back to his own country.

She said police need to take racist abuse incidents more seriously.

Police tracked the woman down and gave her a formal warning for threatening behaviour.

But Maryam said that is not enough and she should be charged, adding that she doesn't feel safe anymore.

Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon said they get around 5000 complaints each year through their info line of racial abuse.

"There is not much we can actually do because the threshold of conviction is very high."

Foon said they are supporting the government to implement changes to hate crime laws to also cover things such as religion, disability and gender.

- RNZ