National Hate Crime Awareness Week
Members of the public will be able to report hate crimes through these organisations – Disability Equality North West, Lancashire Council of Mosques, Drugline Lancashire, Club Casa Romanilor and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation – who will offer support and guidance in reporting this as a crime to Lancashire Constabulary.
For instances where victims may not want to report directly to the police, these services will still provide support victims to access the range of support available through Lancashire Victim Services. All reports of incidents will also be included in statistics.
With these five organisations the first accredited in Lancashire, it highlights the Commissioner and Constabulary’s priority to continue tackling hate crime within the county.
This comes at the end of National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2017, which has seen awareness events taking place across Lancashire and the rest of the UK throughout the week.
Clive Grunshaw, Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner said:
“Offering victims of hate crime a number of ways to report is an important part of the work being done across the county, to tackle what is a major concern for many in Lancashire.
“It is also clear that more people feel comfortable to come forward and report instances of hate crime, which is helping more victims receive the help and advice they need. These ‘Support to Report’ centres offer another avenue for reporting incidents and receiving support – ensuring this is as easy as possible can only be a good thing, with supporting victims of crime a key priority in my Police and Crime Plan.
“Lancashire is no place for hate and we continue to send this message loud and clear by encouraging people to sign the ‘Say No To Hate’ pledge, reporting incidents when they happen and seeking support through Lancashire Victim Services.”
Chief Inspector Ian Mills, Lancashire Constabulary said:
“We know that hostility and hate incidents / crimes go under reported every day. We do not want people to have to tolerate this behaviour or feel as though they have to change their lifestyle to avoid. These reporting centres open up a wide range of ways victims can report in confidence and seek support. Lancashire Constabulary encourages all victims of hostility or hate to come forward and report, anonymously if necessary, to one of the centres or the police.”
Abdul Qureshi, CEO, Lancashire Council of Mosques said:
“Lancashire Council of Mosques is very proud to be part of an effective network of organisations addressing the issue of Hate Crime across Lancashire. We strongly believe that as a faith organisation we have a duty to challenge all forms of hatred where people/communities are targeted due to their personal characteristics.
“Our ultimate aim is to improve service provision for those affected by it as well as help reduce its corrosive occurrence across all communities due to its devastating impact on society as a whole.”
Sylvia Lancaster OBE, Chief Executive, The Sophie Lancashire Foundation said:
“The Sophie Lancaster Foundation are proud that here in Lancashire, people who are from an alternative subcultures will have somewhere to report a hate crime or incident.
“We have been signposting people to report for 10 years since Sophie’s hate motivated murder in 2007. People should feel that they are heard when they have suffered abuse and this is an important they get the support from appropriate services.”
Sophie Bell, from Drugline Lancashire, said:
“Renaissance @ Drugline Lancashire is proud to be part of the initiative focused on tackling hate crime. Using our accredited third party reporting centre we will actively encourage the reporting of hate incidents, ease the pressure of reporting hate incidents for victims and ultimately give easy access to the tailored hate crime support services, based here.
“Lancashire is a diverse county and there is no place for hate, we support this and strive to support victims of hate crime with reporting and through to recovery.”
Melanie Close, Chief Executive, Disability Equality North West said:
“We’re proud to be one of the first kite marked 3rd party reporting centres in Lancashire.
“We hope this will give victims and witnesses the confidence to come to us for help and support to report hate crimes and incidents.”
Mirela Crăciun from Club Casa Romanilor said:
“Casa Romanilor is happy to be part of this fantastic project. It is a privilege that we can help to build a better society for all of us.
“The world is continuously changing and we have to be ready to hand our grandchildren a better world.”
For more information on Lancashire Victim Services visit the website here – http://lancashirevictimservices.org/
You can sign up to the Commissioner’s anti-hate crime pledge online here – https://lancashire-pcc.gov.uk/saynotohate/
