All Warwickshire residents are being encouraged to choose cake over hate for National Hate Crime Awareness Week with a series of tea parties and events taking place around the county.
Recent research has suggested that three out of every five hate crimes go totally unreported. Warwickshire County Council, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Warwickshire Police and Equality Charity, EQUIP, have all come together to launch a campaign raising awareness of Hate Crimes with a view to increasing reporting In Warwickshire.
All residents are being encouraged to come along and take part in ‘Cake not Hate’ tea party, which are taking place around Warwickshire during Hate Crime Awareness week between the 14th and 21st October 2017.
These tea parties will see the launch of a new website – www.reporthatenow.com – which has a wealth of information on Hate Crime, Hate Crime Victim Support and also a way residents can report Hate Crimes to Warwickshire Police or Equality Charity, EQUIP.
Hate Crime Awareness Week 2017 also sees the launch of single, ‘Love Instead of Hate (Give it a Try)’ which has been produced especially for the campaign by Singer/Song-Writer Jordan Charles and ‘The Voice’ Singer Letitia George. Everyone attending a tea party will receive a CD copy of the single.
The Video for the single will be released on the Warwickshire County Council Youtube channel on Thursday 12 October and the single will be available on all good streaming services from Monday 16 October.
Cllr Howard Roberts, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, said: “Making sure Warwickshire Residents are safe and feel safe in the county is a key priority for us. Hatred and Hate Crime have no place in our communities and the fact that so many of these crimes go unreported is not a situation we can or should tolerate.
“I sincerely hope our residents will join us across Warwickshire and choose Cake over Hate for Hate Crime Awareness Week and that together we can commit to tackle the problems.”
Philip Seccombe, Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, said: “Hate crime can have a devastating impact on victims and can come in many forms but it is always unacceptable and should never be tolerated. As a community we must do all we can to change attitudes, support victims and ensure offenders are brought to justice and that is a key part my Police and Crime Plan for Warwickshire. It’s great to see the range of activities being carried out around the county to raise awareness and I hope it will encourage more victims to come forward.”
Chief Inspector Faz Chishty of Warwickshire Police’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams said: “Warwickshire Police is committed to protecting our communities from harm and our ambition is become great at protecting the most vulnerable. We know that Hate Crime victims can often be silent and therefore are vulnerable. We are aware that Hate Crime is under reported and we continue work tirelessly with our partners’ agencies to ensure we raise awareness of Hate Crime and the support available to our communities.
“Hate Crime Awareness Week is an opportunity to raise awareness of Hate Crime and encourage our communities to come together to stand united in tackling hate in society.”
Residents attending one of the Tea Parties throughout the week or encouraged to tell us about it on social media using the hashtags #HCAW2017 #CakeNotHate #WeStandTogether and #ReportHateNow and to follow @SafeinWarks on Twitter for updates throughout the week.
Find out more about Hate Crime and Reporting by visiting: www.reporthatenow.com
