It’s National Hate Crime Awareness Week, a campaign aimed at bringing people and organisations across the UK together to take a stand against Hate Crime. The week is all about encouraging everyone to report hate crime, so as to improve the way we all respond to hate crime and prevent incidents happening in the future.
As a member of the Community Safety Partnership – comprised of local agencies including Greater Manchester Police, and Manchester City Council - Southway is committed to actively monitoring and reducing hate incidents, in order to make our communities safer.
To support the campaign, we wanted to help clarify what hate incidents are, let you know what you can do when you encounter one, and explain by way of a recent incident what we can do in response.
What is a Hate Crime?
Any incident committed against a person or group that is motivated by hatred towards their race, sexuality, disability, religion, age or gender. Examples of hate incidents include verbal abuse, vandalism, online bullying or damage to property and physical violence.
Hate incidents can harm individuals, families and society and can damage community relations. Southway is committed to ensuring good relations in our communities by actively monitoring and reducing hate incidents. We have developed a reporting system to help us deliver a consistent and professional approach to tackle this often hidden problem.
I've experienced or witnessed a Hate Crime - what should I do?
If you've been a victim of hate crime or if you know someone who has, there are lots of different ways to report it.
You can call GMP on 101, call Manchester City Council on 08000 830007 or report it online via True Vision.
Southway also provides a service for tenants to report any hate crime through Stop Hate UK, 24/7. Stop Hate UK is one of the leading national organisations working to challenge all forms of Hate Crime and discrimination, based on any aspect of an individual’s identity. They provide independent, confidential and accessible reporting and support for victims, witnesses and third parties.
I don't feel safe reporting a Hate Crime
We understand that you may feel unable to report a Hate Crime because you feel unsafe or intimidated. If you experience or witness a hate crime, we urge you to make a report. Reporting a Hate Crime is a vital step to getting the victim(s) the support they need and preventing future incidents.
You can report Hate Crime to us here - if you wish to remain anonymous, simply leave out your name and email.
You can also report it by calling us on 0161 448 4200 or by emailing connect@southwayhousing.co.uk.
Southway is a third party agency and we report any hate crime incident to the police.