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A MORE co-ordinated approach to tackling hate crime, particularly abuse taking place on social media, is required if victims are to receive the best possible help, a leading government adviser has warned.
Richard Benson, the former chief executive of the Community Security Trust, will chair a new group aimed at combating hate crimes and supporting those who are abused.
He is putting together a board of lay members to advise the Challenging Hate Crime Support Group formed by the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG).
Mr Benson said it was becoming “quite difficult” to stop hate crimes taking place.
“What we need to have in place is the system and procedures to support victims. If that can be done quickly it can help deal with any emotional problems affecting those victims.
“We are not fighting a lost cause. We are preparing for it better. Having organisations that are in place around the country, well-resourced, knowledgeable, experienced and have the funding to provide that support is necessary.”
He said social media had “opened up the whole world” to rapidly-expanding abuse and had led to school children being more easily attacked.
Mr Benson said: “The role of this group is going to be to cover all forms of hate crimes, everything from disability to gender, to race and religion. Part of it will be to look at how social media is grabbing hold of these areas.
“We will provide support to all organisations involved in campaigning against hate crimes and supporting victims. The focus is to bring together all those different organisations and to help and support those smaller groups working around the country.”
Mr Benson led CST for 12 years before leaving the charity in 2013. He is currently the president of Tell Mama, a group which measures anti-Muslim attacks in Britain. His work with Maccabi GB and the Union of Jewish Students has given him an insight into the affect of social media abuse on young people.
Those experiences will inform his work at the support group.
“There are groups like CST and Tell Mama, who are well-resourced, have got experienced staff and a lot of knowledge. One of the areas is to provide a mentoring system and support for organisations which are much smaller,” he said.
One such group is the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, which was set up by the mother of Ms Lancaster, a 20-yearold Goth who was murdered in 2007.
Mr Benson said the foundation does “fantastic work, going into schools, talking about bullying and name-calling and what that leads to, but ultimately they live hand-to-mouth”.
The new group will also work with Mopac, the Mayor of London’s policing and crime unit, to study the statistics behind hate crime in the capital.
Mr Benson was appointed to lead the group during “national hate crime” week in October. It is due to start work next month and it is hoped a national conference will take place in 2019.
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AN ART expert who defied Russian authorities to recover a missing collection of Impressionist masterpieces has died suddenly aged 64.
Peter Batkin, who was a director of Sotheby’s auction house, passed away last Friday after suffering a stroke.
Born in west London in 1953, Mr Batkin joined Sotheby’s as a porter, working his way up to become a senior figure at the renowned auctioneers.
His crowning achievement came in the 1990s when he convinced Russian authorities to hold the first post-Soviet art auction. Among the artworks he uncovered were priceless masterpieces by Renoir, Degas and Manet.
His widow, Judith Kellermann, said: “Peter was an amazing man. His work had repercussions world-wide, but he also touched people’s lives in a very personal way.
A member of Belsize Park shul, Mr Batkin was “very proud” of his Jewish heritage, his widow said.
A member of a number of dining clubs, he was well-known on the London social circuit for his flamboyant dress sense and his love of rare cigars.
The Eccentric Club, of which he was a member, paid tribute to a “true gentleman and a caring soul”.