Successful prosecution in Rugby
A 56-year old defendant from Rugby has been sentenced for racially abusing two people including a police officer.
Read more...The NSPCC have published research showing that racial abuse and bullying of children in UK has risen by a fifth since 2016.
Children are even whitening their skin to avoid a rising tide of racial hate crimes, in which even babies under one year old have been targeted, the children's charity has said.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said racial abuse and bullying of children had risen by one-fifth since 2015-16 to more than 10,000 incidents recorded by police last year.
The charity said some callers to Childline, its telephone help service, had tried to change their appearance by using makeup to whiten their skin.
Some children told counsellors they kept their pain a secret from their parents because they did not want to upset them.
The NSPCC figures were compiled from freedom of information requests to police forces across the UK. The charity said children aged 12 to 15 were most likely to be affected.
It found that in 2017-18 there were 10,571 offences recorded by police as race hate crimes against children under the age of 18, about 29 a day. The previous year the figure was 9,752 and in 2015-16 it was 8,683.
One 10-year-old girl told the NSPCC: “I’ve been bullied ever since I started school. The bullies call me nasty names; it makes me feel so ashamed. My friends won’t hang out with me any more because people started asking why they were friends with someone who had dirty skin.
“I was born in the UK but bullies tell me to go back to my own country. I don’t understand because I’m from the UK. I’ve tried to make my face whiter before using makeup so that I can fit in. I just want to enjoy going to school.”
Tolga Yildiz, a senior Childline supervisor, said: “Children can experience this at school, out of school and online. They come up with different ways of coping.
“We hear that they tell a teacher, it stops, and then it starts again and they are not confident to report it again.”
The true figure is likely to be higher. Five police forces did not respond to the Freedom of Information request, and police chiefs believe racial and faith hate crimes are underreported.
According to the NSPCC, another girl, 11, said: “I’m being bullied at school because I’m Chinese. The other kids say that my skin is yellow, call me names, and it gets me really down.
“I hate the way I look so much, I think if I looked different everyone would stop being mean to me and I’d fit in. I’ve tried to change the way that I look by using eyeliner so that I fit in more. I don’t want to tell my parents because I think it would upset them.”
One 16-year-old girl from a Muslim background said: “People call me a terrorist and keep telling me to go back to where I came from. I dress in traditional Muslim clothes and I think it singles me out. I usually just put my head down and get on with it but it’s getting to the point now where I genuinely feel like I might get attacked.”
It is the latest evidence to suggest a rise in racism in British society, which appears to have increased from about the time of the EU referendum in June 2016.
Research revealed last week showed 71% of people from ethnic minorities reported facing racial discrimination, compared with 58% in January 2016.
Atiyah Wazir, a Childline counsellor, said: “It is just as heartbreaking every single time a child tells you they wish they looked different. These children have been made to feel shame and guilt and sometimes daren’t tell their mums or dads about it because they don’t want to worry or hurt their feelings.”
Similar to the national trend, children in Warwickshire have been victims of hate crime in schools, out of school and online. Although reports are being submitted in Warwickshire, there is a worry that hate crimes occur in our society, but are not reported to the police.
Support For Young People
If any young person is victim to a hate crime, or any other form of crime, in Warwickshire, they can contact Victim Support on 01926 682 693. Lines are open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can contact them via live chat any time (available 24/7). If you need support outside of Warwickshire's open hours, call their Supportline for free on 0808 1689 111 or request support via their website.
National help for adults concerned about a child or young person via the NSPCC can be found on 0808 800 5000.
Help for children and young people themselves can be found by calling Childline on 0800 1111.
Reporting Hate Crime
The Warwickshire Hate Crime Partnership encourages anyone that experiences hate crime/incident to always report.
You can call the Police via non-emegency 101. In an emergency, always dial 999.
If you do not want to contact the police in Warwickshire, you can report hate crimes/incidents online via the reporting page of this website.
Further support can be provded by EQuIP, by emailing advice@equipequality.org.uk or if you prefer to speak to someone in person, you can contact EQuIP on 01788 863117. Please note that EQuIP operate 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday.