People of Greater Manchester invited to have their say on hate crime

LOCAL people are encouraged to have their say on how Greater Manchester works together to end hate crime and build stronger, cohesive communities.

The call comes as the latest Government figures reveal an increase of 14 per cent in recorded hate crime incidents in Greater Manchester in the last year – with 1,123 more incidents recorded compared to 2017/2018.*

Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Hughes has been working with Greater Manchester’s Hate Crime partnership – which includes Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and local authorities - as well as with community and voluntary groups, to develop a set of priorities and draft the Greater Manchester hate crime plan.

The priorities outlined in the plan aim to build on the innovative work taking place across Greater Manchester to support victims, bring communities together, and challenge hatred and prejudice.

Now the people of Greater Manchester are invited to have their say on the plan, and help shape how Greater Manchester tackles and prevents hate crime as well as provide insight into the experiences of victims and witnesses of hate crime.

Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Bev Hughes said: “Greater Manchester is a place where everyone should feel safe to be themselves. No one should face violence, abuse or hatred just because of who they are, who they love, where they’re from, what they look like, or what they believe. Hate incidents and hate crime will not be tolerated in Greater Manchester.

“We are proud to be supporting the national Hate Crime Awareness Week again this year and we want to remind those who witness hate crime incidents of the importance of reporting it to help make Greater Manchester a better place to live, work an visit.” 

The launch of the survey comes as Greater Manchester stands together for National Hate Crime Awareness Week.

Deputy Mayor Bev Hughes added: “Coinciding with the national Hate Crime Awareness Week we are launching a consultation on Greater Manchester’s Hate Crime Plan - seeking people’s views in a bid to improve how we tackle Hate Crime incidents across our city-region.”

Hate crimes are acts of hostility, such as violence or verbal abuse, directed at people because of who they are.

Cllr Nigel Murphy, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “That there are still people today that feel threatened with intimidation or violence because of their lifestyle, a disability or ethnicity is archaic and wholly unacceptable in today’s society.

“Unfortunately, we know that people are victims of hate crime on a regular basis and we must do everything we can to put a stop to this, support those who are targeted and educate people to think differently.

“Understanding our residents’ lived experience is really important so that we can continue developing a plan that will stamp out hate crime and improve community cohesion across our region.”

Reporting hate crime is easy – you can do it online anonymously: www.letsendhatecrime.com, or by calling the police on 101. Alternatively, you can report hate crime at an independent reporting centre, which are available across Greater Manchester.

To have your say and to help us end hate crime please take part in our survey via gmconsult.org between October 16 and midnight on November 20, 2019.

Details of Hate Crime Awareness events in Manchester are outlined in the Notes to editors. 

Visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2018-to-2019 to see Government hate crime statistics released today (October 15, 2019).

*Terrorist offences may also be considered a hate crime and the College of Policing operational guidance states, there is “a clear overlap between hate crime and terrorist activity”. Terrorist activity (such as the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017), may be targeted against general British or Western values rather than one of the five specific strands and is therefore not covered by the national Home Office data. 

Article Published: 15/10/2019 16:35 PM