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...Police are investigating a possible hate crime directed at Megan Rapinoe after posters of the World Cup champion were defaced with homophobic slurs.
According to the Guardian, New York City police where made aware of the defaced posters, which were located in a Manhattan subway station. Report come through early on Monday 8th July 2019, less than 24 hours after the US ladies team had won the World Cup final on Sunday.
The world champions were given a victory parade in New York on Wednesday 10th July 2019. Rapinoe, a female footballing icon is an advocate for women’s and LGBT rights. She finished top scorer in the tournament and is a vocal advocate for women’s and LGBT rights.
After the parade, PBS reported that Rapinoe urged Americans to “love more” and “hate less.”
Showing her committment to championing equality, Rapinoe has clashed with Donald Trump. Before the World Cup she said she would not visit the White House if the US won the tournament, and she recently accused the president of excluding large sections of the US population.
A spokesperson for New York’s Metropolitan Transport Authority said they had referred the defaced posters to police. “Hate has no place in the transit system and we work hard to make the subway a welcoming, safe environment for everyone.”
Hate crimes have spiked in New York City by 64 percent so far this year and a similar trend is occuring here in the UK.
Homophobic slurs on posters or any other method used by a person to express hate is not acceptable and it simply has no place in our society.
Multiple Homophobic hate crimes and incidents have been covered in national media in recent months, but this issue is also genuine concern at a local level.
The Equality and Inclusion Partnership (EQuIP), an independent charity in Warwickshire have received various reports of homophobic and other types of hate crime during the last twelve months. EQuIP are working with Warwickshire Police, Warwickshire County Council and other organisations that come together as part of teh Warwickshire Hate Crime Partnership to tackle hate related crime.
Benji Evans from EQuIP explained 'Any person that experiences or witnesses any form of hate crime in our society, should always always come forward and report. Each report provides evidence and this insight enables the relevant agencies can work together to identify patterns and trends, but to also develop suitable interventions that can help prevent and tackle hate crime'.
There are various ways to report depending on how much information people wish to give. You can ring the Police by calling 101 in a non-emergency situation, but always call 999 in an emergency.
Evans added 'Reports can be made to us [EQuIP] in strict confidence and the identify of a person reporting can be kept completely confidential. In Warwickshire, some people do not wish to contact the police directly, so they can report hate crimes/incidents to EQuIP, who will not pass on any personal details without prior consent from the people involved'.
You can report online via the www.reporthatenow.com website and this platform has been very popular with most of the reports coming into EQuIP coming through www.reporthatenow.com.
Alternatively, you can email EQuIP: advice@equipequality.org.uk, or for people that prefer to speak to someone, you can contact telephone EQuIP on 01788 863117 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm).