17-24-30 No to Hate Crime Campaign
April 17th, 2012
The first of the three April Acts of Remembrance will take place on Tuesday 17th April, starting with a small gathering at the side of the Iceland store, Brixton. Lighting three candles to represent the three communities that were devastated by David Copeland’s bombing campaign thirteen years ago, we will then walk to Windrush Square for a few words of remembrance.
17th April – Brixton (http://172430notohatecrime.wordpress.com/brixton-17/)
24th April – Brick Lane (http://172430notohatecrime.wordpress.com/brick-lane-24/)
30th April – Soho (http://172430notohatecrime.wordpress.com/soho-30/)
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Refugee Week Football Tournament
April 17th, 2012
Would you like to be involved in supporting this annual and historicaly successful event in becoming the best year yet?
Saturday 16th June 09:30 – 17:00
The football tournament aims:
• to help people from the different refugee and BME groups to meet one another
• to help improve relationships between different refugee and BME groups
• to help improve relationships with the local people in Leeds
• to help give a positive image of people from refugee and BME groups
Can you assist with:
• Volunteering to organise event
• Volunteering to help on the day
• Entertainment on the day
• Catering
• Activities for children or women
• Refereeing
• Have a team who may be interested
• Have any ideas on how to make this event more successful
I would love to get as many diverse groups input as possible if you would like to be involved please contact me. (see details below)
Jean-Marie Ninziz
c/o Refugee Council, c/o Retas Leeds,
Hurley House, 233-237 Roundhay Road,
1 Dewsbury Road, Leeds,
Leeds, LS8 4HS.
LS11 5DQ.
jean.ninziza@refugeecouncil.org.uk Chris@retasleeds.org.uk
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Hate in the Home
March 27th, 2012
An important element of certain types of disability hate crime can be ‘home’ based.
This is an interesting article.
Social landlords have a legal obligation to protect vulnerable tenants from disability-related hate crime. Emily Rogers finds out how they can recognise and stop abuse before it’s too late.
http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/care/victims-of-hate/6521087.article
Source: www.insidehousing.co.uk
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No Place For Hate
March 27th, 2012
An interesting read, well worth a look.
http://www.nus.org.uk/PageFiles/12238/2011_NUS_No_Place_for_Hate_Disability.pdf
Source: www.nus.org.uk
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Stop Hate UK supports MAMA, a new way of reporting Anti-Muslim/Islamophobic Hate Incidents
February 27th, 2012
A first UK helpline for victims of Islamophobia is being set up amid concerns that incidents are not being reported or properly categorised.
Last year 2,000 hate crimes were recorded against different faiths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Police say it is unclear how many were against Muslims as separate figures were not recorded.
Faith Matters, a non-profit group, hopes to show the scale of the problem and provide support for victims.
“Many people think that Islamophobic crime does not exist. They say: ‘Where is the data?’” said the director of Faith Matters, Fiyaz Mughal.
He is setting up the project Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks (MAMA) with the help of government funding.
“This is a chance for the Muslim community to say: ‘Let us present the case, in terms of the facts, let somebody collate it and present it to the authorities.’
“If someone has suffered abuse, been attacked or received a leaflet with inflammatory comments about Muslims in it, I want to hear about it.”
The police are required by the Home Office to record all hate crime – this includes crime on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender, disability and faith.
Anti-Islamic crime is currently grouped together with faith hate crimes against Christians, Hindus and Sikhs.
Anti-Semitic incidents are recorded separately and Faith Matters wants Islamophobic incidents to also be in their own category. According to their research, only 14 police forces out of 44 collate information about Islamophobic crime.
Anti-Semitic hate crimes have been recorded separately since 2006 in response to a request from the government following an inquiry into anti-Semitism, said a spokesperson for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo.)
“A significant challenge in identifying other hate crimes for other religious groups is that many victims consider the crimes to be racist. Given that Muslims originate from all ethnicities it would not be possible to identify such victims from within racist crime data.
“While we do not publish national data on anti-Muslim hate crimes, it is important to stress that all police forces maintain their local hate crime data.”
Fear of Islam and Muslims is on the increase, according to Dr Leon Moosavi, an academic based at Lancaster University who has studied Islamophobia. “It is a widespread problem in the UK,” he said. “More education is needed in schools, and Muslims need to also educate people about their faith.”
Media reports of anti-Muslim incidents are monitored by Islamophobia Watch, Engage and the Islamic Human Rights Commission, but none are able to offer a personal service to victims.
Source & more info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17063513
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Come along and invite your friends to see the Abatimbo Burundi Drummers on 18th May!
February 20th, 2012
Treat yourself to a relaxing evening of delicious cuisine, music and entertainment at our Supper Night, in conjunction with HEART at the Headingley Heart Enterprise and Arts centre. Enjoy a night of professional African drumming with The Abatimbo Burundi Drummers, complimented by an appetising hot buffet and followed by the chance to win a prize in a raffle!
The food on offer includes a Thai green curry or mixed bean chilli, both of which will be served with salad.
So please join us for our memorable evening of socialising and merriment—we look forward to seeing you there!
Pre-sale of tickets only: for reservation or to inquire more information – please contact us on:
events@stophateuk.org
or, tel. 0113 293 5100
Click link for more info - http://www.facebook.com/events/237731449644781/
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Hate crime prosecutions reach record high
February 20th, 2012
A record number of people were prosecuted for racially and religiously-motivated hate crimes in England and Wales last year.
Some 13,276 people came before the courts for such crimes in 2010-11. The Crown Prosecution Service said many had involved assaults or verbal abuse.
Of the cases that concluded last year, more than 80% resulted in convictions.
The prosecutions total is the highest since hate crime statistics were first compiled in 2005-06.
In all, the CPS brought 15,284 hate crime prosecutions, also including cases where people were apparently targeted based on sexuality or disability, or for being transsexual or transgender.
The vast majority of prosecutions – 12,711 – were for racially-motivated offences.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC said: “All crime is unacceptable but offences that are driven by hostility or hatred based on personal characteristics are particularly damaging to any civilised society.”
The proportion of guilty pleas in hate crime cases has crept up over the last couple of years, which Mr Starmer said showed prosecutors were building stronger cases.
“The increase in guilty pleas benefits the victims of these crimes, many of whom would find giving evidence a stressful ordeal,” he said.
Figures also showed a record number of people – 2,822 – prosecuted for crimes against older people.
These were calculated separately from the hate crimes total because there is no statutory definition of a crime against an older person.
Mervyn Kohler, of Age UK, said: “The escalating crime numbers is more likely to reflect the growing – and welcome – sophistication of the police and the CPS in this field, rather than signal a systemically ageist society.”
Mr Starmer highlighted the prison sentences handed down last week for three men in Derby found guilty of a gay hate crime after handing out leaflets calling for homosexual people to be executed.
It was the first prosecution of its kind since a law against stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation came into force in 2010.
“This was the first case of its kind in British legal history and a significant step forward for us in protecting the LGB [lesbian, gay and bisexual] community,” Mr Starmer said.
Source: BBC News
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Alleged tram racist denies abusing passenger
February 20th, 2012
Alleged tram racist Emma West has denied abusing a fellow passenger.
The 34-year-old, from New Addington, appeared at Croydon Crown Court today charged with a racially aggravated public order offence and with intent to cause fear or provocation of violence.
In a packed courtroom, the mother spoke only to enter a not guilty plea to both charges.
A large contingent of far-right supporters were in court, with several having to be turned away due to a lack of space.
Her trial is due to take place at Croydon Crown Court on June 11.
Source: www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk
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Pride in Practice: A new project to ensure healthcare excellence for the LGB community
February 14th, 2012
“The Lesbian & Gay Foundation (The LGF) and NHS North West, are building on the success of their GP’s Surgeries project, with the launch of Pride in Practice – a new patient standard for excellence in lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) healthcare – on February 14th.
The launch event takes place at The Lesbian & Gay Foundation’s Community Resource Centre, Manchester and will feature a talk from the Chairwoman of the Royal College of GP’s Dr Clare Gerada.
The project has also received the backing of TV’s Dr Christian Jessen: “I think Pride in Practice is a great initiative…GPs are going to have to be more accommodating to all of their patients needs. It’s important to remember that patients have a choice about which GP practice they use especially as these days they have to run more like a business, it is in the interests of practices to show that they are welcoming to lesbian, gay and bisexual patients… I fully approve of this.”
Read www.lgf.org.uk’s full interview with Dr Christian here.
Pride in Practice will act as a benchmarking tool and will encourage GPs across the UK to make sure that their lesbian, gay and bisexual patients are treated fairly, and that their services are inclusive of LGB people and their needs.
The surgeries that sign up to the standard will be expected to create a welcoming environment – including using inclusive language and imagery, monitor sexual orientation, consult with LGB patients, get involved with health promotion and outreach, and train staff on specific LGB issues.
The standard encourages GPs to aim for excellence in LGB service delivery, and once a surgery demonstrates that it is an accessible and supportive service they will be awarded a bronze, silver or gold certificate of recognition.
What do GPs and their surgery get?
To support obtaining the Pride in Practice Charter Mark, surgeries will be provided with an information pack.
The pack includes guidance on Sexual Orientation Monitoring, a range of LGB-affirmative resources for display in surgeries, a ‘How To’ guide to making surgeries accessible environments, and a series of factsheets detailing the health inequalities of LGB people on issues such as Mental Health, Sexual Health, Cervical Screening, Drug & Alcohol dependency.
Along with this pack surgeries will also get direct access to the LGF specialist staff team that will provide them with support and guidance on all areas of LGB patient care.
Shahnaz Ali is associate director for Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights at NHS North West, and commissioned LGF to carry out this project. She says: “Despite the huge changes going on in the NHS, GPs will remain the first point of contact for the vast majority of people who need health care – that’s why a project like this is so important.
Lesbian, gay and bisexual people have a right to feel safe and welcome in the NHS and have equality of access to services. There are some shining examples of good practice in surgeries already – which this project will help to build on”.
Two of these shining examples include Ancoats Urban Village Medical Practice and The Docs who are already piloting Pride in Practice in their surgeries.
Jacquie Heywood, Practice Manager at Ancoats Urban Village Medical Practice said: “We are proud to be one of the pilot surgeries for Pride in Practice, being involved in this project ensures that our services are welcoming to lesbian, gay and bisexual people.”
GP Partners Dr Barbara Allan, Dr Matt Joslin and Practice Manager Margaret Everitt from The Docs said: “Being one of the pilot surgeries highlights our commitment to providing inclusive and accessible services, and our whole team supports this initiative.”
Paul Martin OBE Chief Executive of The Lesbian & Gay Foundation said: “Taking this work forward is one of our main priorities for 2012. The success of the GP’s Surgeries project highlighted the impact that accessing a welcoming space can have in terms of quality of care for LGB people. Pride in Practice aims to continue this work in encouraging GP’s surgeries to be more aware of and more accountable for achieving excellence in LGB healthcare.”
To register for the Pride in Practice launch please visit http://www.lgf.org.uk/prideinpractice, or for more information on the project please email dennis.baldwin@lgf.org.uk” Source: The Lesbian & Gay Foundation, 16 January 2012.
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