Suffolk Hate Crime Partnership
‘Talking about Telling’ Consultation - 23rd March to 15th
June 2009
Suffolk County Council is developing a new service that will
support people who are called names, laughed at, bullied, harassed,
hit, or have their property stolen or damaged because of their
race, faith, disability, gender, age, or sexual orientation.
This new service will link to the ‘Racial Harassment
Initiative’.
To make sure that we develop a service that is right and easy to
use, we would like to ask you some questions. Please open the
questionnaire (Word 608k),
complete and return it by email, post or call to arrange a
face to face meeting or ask any questions.
Thank You
Suffolk Hate Crime Partnership
Support available for all sufferers of racial
harassment.
The Racial Harassment Initiative project aims to
ensure that sufferers of racial harassment are aware of the
support that is available and that they can access it. We will
ensure that all incidents of racial harassment are properly and
sensitively investigated.
Definition
A racist incident is "any incident which is perceived to be
racist by the victim or any other person" - The Stephen Lawrence
report (1999). The incident may be motivated by racial prejudice
and includes verbal abuse, threats and even physical violence".
This is racial harassment and should not be tolerated. Racial
harassment can take place in the street, at work, at home, or even
with friends. It may be directed towards your ethnic or cultural
background.
People who have been harassed, threatened or attacked, often
feel upset, anxious, confused and angry. They can lose confidence,
feel guilty and become depressed. If it happens to you make sure
you report it. Our contact details are at the top of this
page.
How does the initiative help sufferers and work with the
wider community?
- dealing with individual cases of racial harassment
- increasing awareness of the effects of racial harassment,
especially racial violence
- listening to the needs of the community and assisting them in
reducing racial harassment and violence
- use a specialist counselling service where
appropriate
- use mediation to resolve neighbour disputes
- secure households with necessary security measures
- work with young people to explain the misery racial violence
causes within a community
Working with victims and their families
The RHI offers support in a variety of ways, including
making regular home visits in order to assess the need of clients,
and making available a range of target hardening measures. These
include securing properties which have been vandalised, installing
panic alarms and/or CCTV for more serious types of harassment where
the offender has not been identified.
Such measures help to reduce victims’ fear as well as guard against
repeat victimisation. These services are frequently used and
requested by partner Housing Departments, Victim Support Schemes,
CAB’s and other voluntary and statutory bodies from across
Suffolk.