Pledge made over hate crime in city
SWANSEA Council has reaffirmed its commitment to support and promote the rights of victims and communities when hate crimes take place.
With Hate Crime Awareness week starting today the council has signed up to the Victim Support Hate Crime Charter.
It sets out in detail the rights of victims, and the commitments of organisations such as the council in playing a part in tackling hate crime, providing support and information for victims, and to raise awareness of hate crime among council staff and the communities the council works with.
Organisations that adopt the charter are committing to ensuring that staff and volunteers are all expected to abide by the charter’s promises whenever they come into contact with those affected by hate crime and work to build strong and inclusive communities.
Councillor Alyson Pugh, Swansea Council’s cabinet member for supporting communities, said: “Swansea was the first City of Sanctuary in the UK and I’m very proud Swansea Council played its part in this. Swansea is a multicultural, vibrant city where everyone is welcome – regardless of their age, race, sexuality, gender identity or disability.
“While the number of hate crimes in Swansea is small in comparison with other cities across the UK, any incident of hate crime here is one too many and as a council we fully support Victim Support’s Hate Crime Charter.”
Hate crimes are crimes perceived by the victim or other people to be motivated by prejudice or hate, whether it’s because of age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, or gender identity.
The charter has been compiled with the experiences of service users and what matters to them and the seven points are aimed to ensure that victims of hate crime and communities have: The right to be heard The right to report hate crime
The right to be treated with respect ■ The right to information ■ The right to free and confidential support ■ The right to make a complaint The right to privacy To report a hate crime/ incident go to https:// www.reporthate. victimsupport.org.uk/ or ring Victim Support 24/7 on 0300 3031 982.