It’s National Hate Crime Awareness Week (NHCAW) 12 to 19 October across the UK, and Lambeth Council are supporting efforts funded by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime to get more people talking about an issue which can have a devastating impact on victims and their communities.
Supporting communities
Organised by 17-24-30, a UK-wide charity set up to commemorate the impact of a series of racist and homophobic bombing attacks in 1999, NHCAW is all about ensuring communities understand how they can get support if they experience hate crime.
What is Hate Crime?
Hate crime is defined as any criminal offence perceived by the victim, or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s race or perceived race disability, faith, gender identity, or sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.
This can include derogatory language or racial slurs shouted at a victim in the street, to graffiti targeting a place of worship, all the way through to physical assaults on victims simply because of their race, religion, or sexuality. These offences strike at the heart of people’s identities, and cannot be tolerated.
Safer Lambeth
Unfortunately, Lambeth remains a high hate crime borough, with Lambeth one of the top five London boroughs when it comes to the number of racist hate crime reports, and second only to LB Westminster for the number of homophobic hate crime offences.
This is why it is vital we continue to work to tackle this issue, and why it is included as a priority in the Safer Lambeth Partnership Strategy 2030. We are resolved to do what we can to raise awareness of hate crime, improve reporting of incidents, and ensure victims receive appropriate support.
Where to find information and support
During NHCAW you will see posters raising awareness of the issue appearing on Lambeth’s digital billboards, complete with a QR code that you can scan for more information. You will also be able to pick-up NHCAW resources from Brixton Library from later in the week, and digital copies of the posters have been circulated to many of the borough’s voluntary and community sector providers, as well as being available to download from this website.
More information
Find out more about National Hate Crime Awareness Week
