Tameside takes a stand on hate crime

In a bid to stamp out hate crime and raise awareness, a week of events has been held at venues across Tameside.

This was part of Hate Crime Awareness Week, which is running across the whole of Greater Manchester from 3-9 Feb.

Hate incidents and hate crime are acts of violence or hostility directed at people because of who they are or who someone thinks they are. These acts can involve verbal and online abuse, physical attacks, criminal damage, and many more offences.

During the week a series of events were held by Tameside Council’s Community Safety and Homelessness team.

This included activities in Ashton and Hyde Markets where individuals had the opportunity to share their experiences and learn how to report hate crime.

Tameside Council’s Community Cohesion officers also held talks at Holy Trinity Church, Ashton, where they discussed the difference between hate incidents and hate crimes, strands of hate crime and how a victim of hate crime can be affected.

It’s important to support someone affected by hate crime as nobody should feel alone when they have received abuse for being themselves.

By reporting hate crime when it happens, it can help stop it happening to someone else. It will also help the police to better understand the level of hate crime in your local area, and improve the way they respond to it.

The most common types of hate crime that could be witnessed are verbal and online.

Any witnesses should only challenge an offender if it’s safe to do so and not put themselves into what could become a dangerous situation.

Online hate crime can be easier to challenge by showing solidarity and using the #WeStandTogether hashtag in conversations on social media.

If it is not an emergency, phone the police on 101. If there happens to be a police officer around when witnessing a hate crime, speak to them.  Alternatively, report it online at www.report-it.org.uk.                   

Cllr Allison Gwynne, Tameside Council Elected Member for Neighbourhoods, Community Safety and Environment, said: “If you see or are the victim of a hate crime please make sure you report it or call 999 if someone’s in danger and the hate crime happening at the time. You can also report this online which helps us to understand a lot more about that crimes taking place.”

For more information on hate crime and how to report it visit http://www.letsendhatecrime.com/.