A UK Government campaign against hate crime has adverts running on video-on-demand sites, social media and posters displayed across the country. Each video or poster features an offender, represented by an e-fit, and a hate crime taking place.
These include:
a lesbian couple being verbally abused at a bar;
racist graffiti being sprayed on the shop of a foreign couple;
an offender posting hate-filled messages about a transgender woman online;
a Muslim woman being aggressively shouted at to remove her headscarf and a Jewish man being abused in the street; and
a disabled man being verbally abused on a bus.
The campaign seeks to reassure communities at risk of hate crime that the Government takes these crimes seriously and to publicly address the attitudes and beliefs that foster hate crime and re-establish boundaries around not targeting people on the basis of their identity.
The campaign website suggests organisations where victims and witnesses can get support. At the Home Office, Minister for Countering Extremism Baroness Williams said: “Committing a hate crime goes against all the shared values we hold and can have a traumatic impact on victims. The campaign gives clear examples of hate crime and sends a message that not only is this behaviour unacceptable, it is a criminal offence. This is just one part of the ongoing work of the government to tackle hate crime to ensure this sickening behaviour is stamped out.”
Chris Long, Chief Crown Prosecutor and CPS hate crime champion, said: “Hate crime has a corrosive effect on society and being on the receiving end of an incident can be particularly distressing because of its personal nature. The CPS works closely with the police to prosecute thousands of cases every year. More than two-thirds of offenders are now receiving tougher, uplifted sentences from the courts – the highest levels ever recorded. We take hate crime very seriously and are committed to properly supporting victims. People should be in no doubt – if you believe you have been a victim of hate crime you should report it to the police.”
Last month the Government updated its hate crime action plan, which included:
– asking the Law Commission to review hate crime legislation
– further funding for community groups to tackle hate crime; and
– extending the Places of Worship Security Scheme for a fourth year.
