Hate crime data has been published today for the first time and it is refreshing to note that the number of reported incidents have increased with a total of 52,028 crimes recorded across the UK in which the offence was motivated by prejudice.
Realistically with this figure considered to be understated a figure closer to 200,000 would more truly represent the extent of hate crime in the UK.
“In the field of hate crime one of the main issues is under-reporting” commented Mark Williams of Safer Wales. “In recent years we’ve seen several reports highlighting that only one in four cases of homophobic or racist abuse are reported. For people with learning disabilities the numbers are even lower with research suggesting only one in ten cases are reported.”
There are a variety of reasons for this under-reporting including people not considering what has happened to them to be important enough to report to the police or fear of how the police may react to their incident or how they will be treated.
“Here in Wales we’re pleased to be working in partnership with the four Welsh police services and British Transport Police to really make a difference to victims of hate crime and harassment. We’ve designed and developed the Report Hate Safer Wales which is a unique scheme for the people of Wales. People can report online or through freepost leaflets to us when they don’t wish to contact the police. We will only pass details to the police where people agree. Even if consent is not given Safer Wales will still pass on brief information on a regular basis to help the police make a difference in our communities.”
“We’ve achieved a lot in our first year with reports coming in from across Wales covering cases ranging from verbal abuse to knife attacks. But we could do so much more and want anybody who has suffered any form of prejudiced based hostility whether it’s verbal abuse or worse to report to us here at Safer Wales.”
Report Hate- Safer Wales reporting forms can be found across Wales but people may also report online at www.saferwales.com.
