The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published how it will prosecute hate crime in England and Wales. The CPS says that it consulted community groups and criminal justice partners to produce these revised statements, covering racist and religious; disability; and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime.
The CPS has also published revised legal guidance that sets out how prosecutors should make charging decisions and handle these cases in court. The documents include a commitment to treat online crime as seriously as offline offences, while taking into account the potential impact on the wider community as well as the victim. CPS says its policy will acknowledge that victims of biphobic hate crime have different experiences and needs to victims of homophobic and transphobic offences.
The CPS recognises it has a responsibility to actively remove barriers to justice for disabled victims and witnesses. The CPS is marking the publication of the documents with the launch of a social media campaign – #HateCrimeMatters – to encourage people to report hate crime incidents. It is also publishing an online support guide specifically for disabled victims and witnesses of crime.
Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: “Hate crime has a corrosive effect on our society and that is why it is a priority area for the CPS. It can affect entire communities, forcing people to change their way of life and live in fear.
“These documents take account of the current breadth and context of offending to provide prosecutors with the best possible chance of achieving justice for victims. They also let victims and witnesses know what they should expect from us.
“I hope that, along with this week’s campaign, they will give people the confidence to come forward and report hate crime, in the knowledge that they will be taken seriously and given the support they need.”
Definition
A hate crime is an offence where the perpetrator is motivated by hostility or shows hostility towards the victim’s disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. For more, visit http://www.cps.gov.uk/victims_witnesses/hate_crime/index.html.
Comment
David Emm, principal security researcher at the IT security product firm Kaspersky Lab, said: “Technology offers protection but we cannot rely solely on it. By being informed and talking about our lives online, we will continue to raise awareness and understanding of the risks and threats and how to guard against them.”
The charity Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign is about welcoming and accepting LGBT people at all levels of sport. Stonewall says many LGBT people have a poor experience of sport, making them reluctant to take part, either as fans or as players.
While most cricket fans welcome and support LGBT people, Stonewall says, it points to research that one in six have heard anti LGBT remarks at live games. Half of all sports fans have heard homophobic abuse in sport in the past five years.
