10/08/2005

Study to examine hate crime

The effect of hate crime in England and Wales is being investigated in a new study, it has been announced.

Victim Support and Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) will conduct the £100,000 research programme.

Hate crime made headlines in the wake of the July 7 bomb attacks. Last week, it was reported that crimes motivated by religious hatred had risen by nearly 600% in the capital in the wake of the attacks.

The research will focus on the experiences and needs of black and minority ethnic people, but it is hoped that the findings will also be helpful to the needs of other groups, such as homosexuals, disabled people, refugees and asylum seekers, which have also faced attacks.

It is expected that the findings will enable the development of a national framework, aimed at supporting local communities at risk of experiencing hate crime.

Victim Support said racially motivated crime referrals to them had been steadily rising in recent years. The group said it was helping around 22,000 people affected by racially motivated crime per year.

Peter Dunn, Head of Research & Development at Victim Support said: "Hate crime has a destructive effect not just on victims but on whole communities. The Government and the statutory services have begun to recognise it as a phenomenon, but little is known about how individual victims are affected. We also need to know more about how to support victims effectively and how to combat further victimisation.

"This project will help us deliver better services for victims of hate crime and for affected communities. It will help government, local agencies and researchers with their work as well.”

(KMcA/SP)

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