Hate Crime is one of the most complex and serious areas of our casework.
Did you know that over the last year 578 hate crimes were reported to the police? That’s up 17.5% on the previous year. This is the tip of the iceberg. Many victims do not report to the police or to any other body.
But what is a hate crime? It is a crime motivated by prejudice against a particular group of people. Imagine you are shouted at, threatened, hit, beaten up, had a brick through your window because of the colour of your skin, the country you were born in, where your parents were born, the language you speak, you are a migrant or refugee, because you are in a wheelchair, have difficulty speaking, hearing, have a mental health problem or learning difficulty, because you are gay or a lesbian or Trans.
We provide an advice and advocacy service for victims of hate crime about their rights and the duties and powers of the appropriate agencies, and take up their cases with those agencies.
The impact of hate crime on victims can last for years. We provide wrap-around support for all our hate crime victims: people can report hate crime directly to us as we are a Third Party Reporting Centre and have an accessible our out-of-hours Hate Crime Hot line service which is available from 6 pm - 12 pm midnight, 365 days a year.
What is Third Party Reporting? Many people, for a variety of reasons, are reluctant to report crime directly to the police. Third party reporting is a way to overcome this. Third Party Reporting Centres are organisations that have agreed to make reports to the police on behalf of victims who do not want to go directly to the police. This service is provided in addition to the organisation’s core services. All forms of crime are under-reported to the police; however research consistently shows that hate crimes are much more under-reported than other forms of crime. Therefore Third Party Reporting Centres have been set up to improve hate crime reporting.
If you are a victim of Hate crime please call us our Hate Crime Hotline on:
Tel No. 020 8551 8178
Telephone service open 6 pm- 12 pm midnight 7 days a week.
COMMUNITY UNITED AGAINST HATE CRIME PROJECT
Organisations across East and North London have joined forces to deal with the menace of hate crime. Barking & Dagenham Racial Equality Council, Enfield Racial Equality Council, Rights and Equalities in Newham, Redbridge Equalities & Community Council and Waltham Forest Race Equality Council are working in partnership to eradicate this problem, with funding from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).
The Community Against Hate Crime project will:
Provide a hate crime advice and advocacy service across Barking & Dagenham, Enfield, Havering, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest
Establish a Community Witness & Support Team – a team of volunteers who we will train to go and visit victims of hate crime – across these boroughs
Speak to community organisations, congregations, schools, youth clubs... about the menace of hate crime, how to report it, what you can do to support those being targeted
Leaflet hate-crime hotspots, to encourage victims and their neighbours to come forward to report incidents and to seek support
Establish mutual support groups of victims of hate crime, allowing them to support each other and have a collective platform to talk to the appropriate authorities about the problems they are facing.
Please invite us to speak to your organisation and contact us at :
Redbridge Equalities & Community Council, Room 203, 2nd Floor, Heraldic House. 160-162 Cranbrook Road, Ilford IG1 4PE.
020 8551 8178 office1@redbridgeequalities.org.uk
Community Witness and Support Team Volunteers - why they are needed.
We have been hearing about hate crime around here – people being targeted because they are disabled, elderly, from an ethnic minority, a refugee, a migrant, minority faith or because of their sexuality. The perpetrators pick on people who they believe are isolated and vulnerable because of prejudice.
We need to turn this around. The victims should be supported so that they are not isolated. We really believe that most local people are opposed to this kind of behaviour.
If you are suffering hate crime or you know someone who is, then please let us know so we can do something and help give the victims a voice.
If you want to do something about it then we want to hear from you. We will provide training. and the required full DBS check. So you too can be part of our Community Witness & Support Team of volunteers to help victims of hate crime.
Contact us at Redbridge Equalities & Community Council, 020 8551 8178, office1@redbridgeequalities.org.uk , or write to us at RECC, Room 203, Heraldic House, 160-162 Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 4PE.
