Race hate reports up since 7/7 bombs |
| Stop Press | |||
| Written by J Kennedy | |||
| Saturday, 20 August 2005 00:00 | |||
 RACE hate cases have rocketed since the 7/7 bombings, a study has shown. Victim Support Southwark (VSS) has been swamped with pleas for help from people suffering racial harassment and religious intolerance in the past month. The service had 43 cases of harassment compared to 23 the same time last year. VSS borough manager Pat Green said that while not all the victims thought their suffering was a direct result of the attacks, racists may be using the climate of fear as an excuse. He said: "The thing about racists is they don't tend to discriminate between blacks, Asians or any ethnic group. "What may have happened is that they feel they have an excuse to be openly racist because of the current situation." Jonathan Toy, head of community safety at Southwark council, said he was aware of cases of abuse directly linked to the bombings. He said: "There have been a number of instances where members of our black and ethnic minority communities have been verbally abused because of the public perception of terrorists." He added that the "culture shock" of seeing armed cops on the streets could be putting people off going to the police. He said: "I'm not saying people aren't reporting things to the police but they may be more inclined to go to Victim Support for that type of service." Police figures showed a small decrease in race crimes in the same period, but with an increase in faith-related crimes from one to six. Detective Inspector Rachel Bennett, head of Southwark police hate crime unit, said it was important to look at the figures in context. She said: "Victim Support receives referrals from police and the public, whereas our figures are purely from criminal allegations. "There has been a noticeable increase in faith hate crimes but the incidents are isolated.
|
Diigo
Domino Duel - New to William Hill Skill Games.
Play Domino Duel today and be on your way to a fantastic £20 New Player Bonus. Check out the quick, slick game play now. (23)
Shopping
News Menu
| Home |
| Join Blacknet |
| UK |
| North England & Yorkshire |
| London & South England |
| Midlands & East England |
| Wales & West England |
| America |
| Caribbean |
| Africa |
| Community Campaigns |
| News Round |
Support
Contact US
| Marketing Dept |
| Support Dept |
| Sales Executive |
All contributed by people who make up the community, people like you! Come join us and get involved.... Share your voice at Blacknet!
Blacknet Media Group:
+44(0)7957 771 771 | +44(0)7789 640 139