When Systems Fail Communities: Why Organisations Must Confront Structural Barriers in Their Work
- Alicia James
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Across the UK, organisations working with diverse and marginalised communities are facing a growing truth: engagement challenges are rarely about individual motivation, they are about systemic barriers that shape people’s daily realities.
Research consistently shows that structural inequities, language exclusion, and culturally unsafe environments directly reduce participation, trust, and program uptake. For organisations committed to equity, these barriers are not external problems, they are reflections of how systems, including their own, are designed.
This blog explores the data behind these challenges and what it means for organisations striving to serve communities with integrity.
The Data: Systemic Barriers Are Widespread and Deeply Rooted
1. Language Exclusion Limits Access
Over 1 million UK residents report speaking English “not well” or “not at all” (ONS).
In some local authorities, 1 in 5 households use a primary language other than English.
Programs delivered only in English see up to 40% lower participation from linguistically diverse communities.
Language is not just a communication barrier — it is a gatekeeper to rights, services, and belonging.
2. Cultural Mismatch Reduces Engagement
Studies show that when services are not culturally aligned:
Trust drops by 30–50%
Retention decreases by up to 60%
Participants are twice as likely to disengage early
This isn’t about preference — it’s about psychological safety. People cannot meaningfully participate in systems that do not recognise their cultural identity, values, or lived experience.
3. Trauma and Systemic Inequity Shape Participation
Communities facing systemic discrimination, migration trauma, or intergenerational disadvantage often experience:
Higher levels of institutional mistrust
Lower confidence in formal systems
Increased fear of judgement or misunderstanding
Greater sensitivity to power imbalances
Research shows that trauma‑affected communities are three times more likely to disengage from services that lack trauma‑informed practice.
This is not a community deficit, it is a systemic failure.
What These Barriers Reveal About Organisations
When participation is low, organisations often assume:
“People aren’t interested.”
“They don’t understand the value.”
“They’re hard to reach.”
But statistically, the issue is rarely the community. It is the design of the organisation’s systems, processes, and engagement methods.
Systemic barriers reflect organisational structures:
If materials are only in English → the organisation is not accessible.
If facilitation styles don’t reflect cultural norms → the organisation is not culturally responsive.
If engagement feels extractive → the organisation is not trauma‑informed.
If communities are not involved in design → the organisation is not rights‑based.
Low engagement is not a community problem — it is diagnostic feedback about organisational practice.
A Rights‑Based Lens: What Organisations Must Confront
A rights‑based approach requires organisations to acknowledge:
Power is unevenly distributed
Systems are not neutral
Barriers are predictable, not accidental
Communities are experts in their own experience
This shift moves organisations from “How do we get people to participate?” to:
“How do we remove the barriers we have unintentionally created?”
What Effective Organisations Do Differently
Organisations that successfully increase engagement in underrepresented groups typically adopt three evidence‑based practices:
1. Multilingual, Accessible Communication
Not just translation — cultural validation, plain language, audio formats, and visual resources.
2. Trauma‑Informed, Culturally Anchored Facilitation
Facilitators trained to recognise trauma responses, cultural norms, and power dynamics.
3. Community Co‑Design
Programs shaped with communities, not for them — increasing ownership, trust, and relevance.
These practices consistently lead to:
Higher participation
Greater trust
Stronger program outcomes
Improved organisational credibility
How Chosen Online Supports This Work
At Chosen Online, we combine:
Multilingual tools
Cultural validation processes
Trauma‑informed methods
Rights‑based frameworks
Community co‑design
This integrated approach helps organisations:
Identify systemic barriers
Rebuild engagement systems
Strengthen cultural safety
Increase participation from underrepresented groups
Align practice with equity and human rights
Because when organisations change their systems, communities no longer need to change themselves to fit.
The Bottom Line
Systemic barriers are not abstract — they show up in attendance numbers, disengagement patterns, and community feedback. They reflect how organisations are structured, not how communities behave.
When organisations confront these barriers with honesty and evidence‑based practice, they create environments where participation becomes possible, trust becomes sustainable, and culture becomes a strength rather than an obstacle.
Systemic barriers are faced in business, systems and processes, customer experience relationships, but businesses struggle to holistically address this because of one issue or another, could be resource constraints, skills, or finance.