News Release issued by
the COI News Distribution Service on 13 September 2009
Embargoed until
00:01 on Monday 14 September 2009
New measures to support victims of hate crime, bring more
perpetrators to justice and increase reporting of these crimes
were outlined today by the government.
The Hate Crime Action Plan sets out government work to address
all forms of hate crime with an emphasis on preventing these
crimes from occurring or escalating in seriousness.
The plan sets out how local organisations like the police and
councils will get new advice on the best ways to deal with hate
crime. This includes new guidance on preventing hate crime and a
training toolkit for crime reduction bodies to improve the
identification of and support for vulnerable witnesses.
It also sets out work to better tackle hate crime by boosting
victims' confidence in the justice system to help to
increase reporting of these crimes.
The work includes:
* new standards for police in the investigation and recording of
hate crime;
* encouraging the take up of special measures to help support
vulnerable and intimidated witnesses give effective evidence in
court; and
* additional help for probation staff to improve the management
of hate crime offenders.
Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said:
"Hate crime ruins people's lives and the
government is determined to tackle it in all its forms. People
should be free to express their identities without fear of
harassment and crime simply because of who they are.
"The Hate Crime Action Plan will help ensure our
response to these intolerable crimes is as effective as possible
and create an environment that will give victims more confidence
to report these crimes, knowing they will be taken seriously and
acted on."
Drew Harris, Assistant Chief Constable of PSNI and ACPO lead on
hate crime, said:
"Hate crime is unacceptable in any civilised society and
the police are committed to reduce the harm it causes, to victims,
their families and to the broader community.
"We know that many hate crimes still go unreported
and it is essential that victims have both the confidence and the
opportunity to report such crimes, either directly to the police
or through a third party. A full understanding of the nature and
extent of the problem will allow us and our partners to help
protect people from the harm caused by hate crime.
"We have been involved in the creation of this
cross-governmental plan because we realise that the police service
cannot succeed in isolation. There is a need for local and
national agencies to cooperate in order to reduce the harm hate
crime causes to victims and communities. This action plan will
help focus the attention of all agencies on the response to hate
crime but, vitally it will also oversee work to minimise the
bigotry that fuels such crimes. It is far better that we prevent
hate crimes from occurring but when they do we must be ready to
respond effectively."
Rose Simkins, Chief Executive of Stop Hate UK, said:
"Stop Hate UK welcomes the government's work to
address all kinds of hate crime. A good deal has been achieved in
recent years, but this plan acknowledges there is still work to be
done to help victims to report hate crime and receive support, and
to bring more offenders to justice.
"We all need to take responsibility for reporting hate
crimes and incidents that we experience or witness, and not allow
them to go ignored and unnoticed."
Today the Minister visited Age Concern in Camden which will be
receive a grant of £23,000 from the £310,000 made available from
the Victims' Fund by the Home Office to charities working
to prevent hate crime.
During the visit, the minister announced ten third sector
organisations which had been successful in their bids to the
Victims' Fund to run projects to provide specialist
support to hate crime victims.
The minister added:
"I am pleased to be here in Camden to see how the money
from the hate crime section of our Victims' Fund is
helping to improve people's lives."
Nick Maxwell, LGBT development co-ordinator at Age Concern
Camden, said:
"We are so pleased to be receiving funding from the
Victims' Fund. Older lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (OLGBT) people have lived much of their lives in less
liberal times, hiding their sexuality purely as means of survival,
suffering daily prejudice and hostility.
"Though attitudes have changed considerably, we
still have a long way to go in some areas. The money from the Hate
Crime fund to Age Concern Camden's Opening Doors Central
London project will go a long way to help our older LGBT
communities to come forward and access support they might need in
confidence, and to look forward to growing older, with dignity,
and no longer have to hide who they are."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. An electronic copy of the Hate Crime Action Plan is available
from the Home Office press office on 020 7035 3535.
2. The Victims' Fund has been providing grants to third
sector organisations that support victims since 2004. The
charities receiving from the Hate Crime section of the
Victims' Fund in 2008/09 are:
GIRES Transgender £10,110
Community Security Trust
Race/Religion £54,354
North Herts People First Disability
£17,788
Voice UK Disability £50,425
Torfaen People First
Disability £29,064
Stop Hate UK General/Race
£71,600
Redbridge Equalities Council Race
£24,038
Stonewall Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual £25,000
Royal
Mencap Kirklees Disability £4,000
Age Concern Camden
Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual £23,000
3. The prevalence of hate crime is difficult to establish
as it is often under-reported. Figures from the British Crime
Survey suggest there were 207,000 racially motivated crimes in
2007/08. A survey by gay charity Stonewall found that one in eight
lesbian, gay and bisexual people had experienced a homophobic hate
incident in the preceding year. Stonewall estimated this to be
equivalent to 450,000 people. Disability charity Mencap found that
88 per cent of people with learning disabilities had been a victim
of a disability hate incident or disability hate crime in the
preceding year.
4. For more information about the work at Camden's Age
Concern please contact Clare O'Driscoll on 020 7837 3777.
5. For more information call the Home Office Press Office on 020
7035 3535.
181/09
Contacts:
Home Office Press Office
Phone: 020 7035 3535
NDS.HO@coi.gsi.gov.uk