Sefton Council and its partners join forces for National Hate Crime Awareness Week

National Hate Crime Awareness Week is underway.

Its aim is to raise awareness of what hate crime is and how it affects people, to encourage people to report hate crime, and to let people know what is happening in the local area to tackle it.

Raising awareness and encouraging the reporting of hate crimes and incidents is a priority for the Council and partners throughout the year, but we also take the opportunity to join with national groups across the country to highlight issues during campaigns such as National Hate Crime Awareness Week.

This Thursday, (13th October), Council partners will be doing a walkabout of The Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle to spread awareness of the campaign and chat to businesses owners, employees and shoppers about the issue.

What is Hate Crime?

A hate crime is defined as ‘Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion; sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability or perceived disability and any crime motivated by hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.’

A hate incident is any incident which the victim, or anyone else, thinks is based on someone’s prejudice towards them because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender.

Not all hate incidents will amount to criminal offences, but it is equally important that these are reported and recorded by the police.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said:

“Sefton Council works very hard with our partners to tackle the problem of hate crime, and we take all hate crimes and incidents very seriously and we and support charities such as Stop Hate UK and housing providers who can help take action and support victims.

“I encourage everyone across Sefton to report any of Hate Crimes or Incidents they witness.

“You don’t have to be the victim to be able to report a hate crime or hate incident. Anyone can make a report a crime and help us make Sefton a safer place for everyone.”

You can find out more about hate crime and how to report it, at www.sefton.gov.uk/hate-crime

Information is also available from Merseyside Police at www.merseyside.police.uk/hatecrime

Details of National Hate Crime Awareness Week Can be found here and more information about the Stop Hate UK national hate crime helpline is here.