NationalHCAW Newsletter 2022
Welcome to issue 18 of our UK Hate Crime Sector Newsletter.
National Hate Crime Awareness Week #NationalHCAW has come and gone, we had a great response from across the UK.
The Mayor's Office Policing and Crime provided the anti-hate crime charity 17-24-30 NationalHCAW with £25,000 funding for National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2022.
We held our annual Act of Hope and Remembrance for those affected by Hate Crime at St Paul's Cathedral on the 9th October 2022, lighting the national candle in solidarity with the East and Southeast Asian communities who have experienced race hate crime during and after the pandemic.
Speakers included: Claire Waxman (Victims Commissioner), Dr Yeow Poon (Chair CARG), Mark Healey (17-24-30 NationalHCAW).
We distributed NationalHCAW resources to the 12 Met Police BCU teams, Transport for London, and British Transport Police - who held events and cascaded resources to their local partners across London.
73 people/organisations registered for the 300 free NationalHCAW Resource Packs which we distributed across London. We also shifted a number of left-over packs from 2020 and 2021.
Freedom of Information Responses
- 368 responses from councils of which 246 69.1% said they were taking part in the national week, 59 16.57% said they don't know if they are taking part and 49 13.76% said they were not taking part.
- 45 responses from police services of which 41 91.11% said yes they were taking part in the national week, 4 8.89% responded they don't know if they are taking part.
- We are still chasing some Police Services and Councils for their outstanding FOI responses.
Statements of Support
- We received 110 Statements of support.
Hate Crime Events
- We registered 58 events across the UK.
Act of Hope and Remembrance for those affected by Hate Crime
- We had 14 representatives from the London Boroughs - Civic Mayors, Civic Speakers and the Lord Mayor of Westminster.
Articles
- We recorded 103 articles that mentioned National Hate Crime Awareness Week
Google Map
- The map has had 7,639 views so far and still counting.
Twitter Engagement
- In October 2022 we shared 254 tweets attracting 9.957 profile visits, 87.7k tweet impressions and 361 mentions.
Website Engagement
- In the last 90 days we have had over 2.6K users visit our national NationalHCAW website (20/11/2022).
This issue of the newsletter will focus on the annual Act of Hope and Remembrance for those affected by Hate Crime that was held at St Paul's Cathedral on the 9th October 2022 - with the National Candle being lit in solidarity with the East and Southeast Asian communities affected by Race Hate Crime.
I have launched a Petition calling upon the Goverment to update their Hate Crime Action Plan and increase actions to tackle hate crime.
Please sign the petition here.
Mark Healey
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Newsletter Contents
- Welcome by Mark Healey
- NationalHCAW Statistics
17-24-30 National Hate Crime Awareness Week CIO Updates
- Whole Video: Act of Hope and Remembrance at St Paul's Cathedral
- Welcome and Reading - Rev Andrew Tremlett and Rev Mark Nam
- Lighting of National Candle - Pek-San Tan
- Diversity Choir
- Poet Eric Kip
- BSL Interpreters Martin Fox-Roberts and Daniel Roberts
- Speaker 1 - Mark Healey
- Speaker 2 - Claire Waxman
- Speaker 3 - Dr Yeow Poon
- Adverts shared in St Paul's Cathedral's service brochure
Community News
- UK Hate Crime Network group on Linkedin
Back Issues
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17-24-30 NationalHCAW CIO updates
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WHOLE VIDEO OF SERVICE: Annual Act of HOPE and REMEMBRANCE for those affected by Hate Crime held at St Paul's Cathedral on Sunday 9th October 2022
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Act of HOPE and REMEMBRANCE for those affected by Hate Crime
We were welcomed to St Pau's Cathedral by The Very Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Dean.
The Reverend Mark Nam, from St Anne's Church, Oldland Common and United Church, Longwell Green, and founder of the Tea House read the Reading.
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The Very Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Dean (Left) The Reverend Mark Nam (Right)
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17-24-30 NationalHCAW Trustee Pek-San Tan representing the Campaign Against Racism Group CARG lighting the National Candle of Hope and Remembrance
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National Candle of Hope and Remembrance
During the service 17-24-30 NationalHCAW Trustee Pek-San Tan representing the Campaign Against Racism Group CARG lit the National Candle of Hope and Remembrance in solidarity with the East and Southeast Asian communities who have experienced rising levels of race hate crime during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The wonderful Diversity Choir
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Diversity Choir
The wonderful Diversity Choir performed three pieces during the event.
- "Quiet Prayer" (Exultate) by Mikhail Sukh (b1952)
- "Geistliches Lied" by Johannes Brahms (1833-97)
- "Music, when soft voices die" by Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
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Poet Eric Kip
Award winning Poet Eric Kip read his poem Inheritance
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BSL Interpreters
BSL Interpretation was provided by Martin Fox-Roberts and Daniel Roberts
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Mark Healey and Claire Waxman (Top),
Dr Yeow Poon (left) and Poet Eric Yip (right)
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1st Speaker: Mark Healey representing 17-24-30 NationalHCAW
I am the founder of National Hate Crime Awareness Week
I want to thank you all for joining us in St Paul’s Cathedral today.
Looking at you - I recognise family, friends and people that I have worked with over the last 11 years that we have held this important Act of Hope and Remembrance for those affected by Hate Crime.
I see many new faces - I want you to know how good it is to see you too,
I welcome you to become part of our national movement to tackle hate crime across the UK.
Today I’m proud to work with CARG - The Campaign Against Racism Group that was formed during the pandemic to address the racism that is still being experienced by East and Southeast Asian communities.
I hope we can help raise the profile of their important work.
There is a new hate crime advice and support service that has been set up to support East and Southeast Asian victims of hate crime. it is called On Your Side and you’ll find an advert promoting its service in the brochure for today’s Act of Hope and Remembrance.
It is up to all of us to work together to ensure that there is no place for hate in our communities.
We need to spread a message of HOPE.
H – for Hate Crime Awareness – we need everyone to know what hate crime is and how to respond to it.
O – for Operational Responses – a police term. We need to work with the police to improve the way they respond to hate crime incidents and we need to ensure that our communities, our loved ones know what to do if they experience hate crime.
P – is for Prevention. We must learn from what has happened before and share that knowledge so that we can prevent further attacks on our communities.
E – is for Engaging Everyone.
To bring an end to all forms of hate crime we need to get everyone around the table – representatives from the authorities (Government, Police and Councils), key partners (business and voluntary sectors) and all communities affected by hate crime.
That is one of the reasons we invite statements of support from across the social and political spectrum.
I’m sad to say that there are still some statements that we would expect to receive from the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the leaders of other political parties – that are outstanding.
I think of MP Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016, and MP Sir David Amess who was murdered during National Hate Crime Awareness Week last year. Surely every politician should be striving to bring an end to hate. Surely every politician should be providing us with a statement of support.
We hope that their statements will arrive before the end of this week – but if they don’t – then we need everyone to raise our call upon them to support us – even louder.
On Thursday last week the Home Office released the latest hate crime statistics for England and Wales, year ending March 2022.
155 thousand 841 hate crimes – a rise of 26% I think of the London Nail Bomb attacks on Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho. I think of Sophie Lancaster attacked simply because of the clothes she was wearing.
Race Hate Crime 109 thousand 843 up 19% I think of Altab Ali and Stephen Lawrence who lost their lives in racist attacks which happened years ago. I think of Johnny Delaney the Roma Gypsy Traveller who was attacked because of the community he belonged to.
Faith Hate Crime 8 thousand 730 up 37% I think of Mohammed Saleem who was murdered on his way home from prayers.
Homophobic Hate Crime 26 thousand 152 up 41% I think of Nick Moore and his friends killed and injured whilst out celebrating at the Admiral Duncan. I think of Ian Baynham whose death inspired the London Vigils against Hate Crime, which evolved into National Hate Crime Awareness Week.
Disability Hate Crime 14 thousand 242 up 43% I think of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter and the abuse they suffered for too many years. I think of the disabled people mentioned in the first Hidden in Plain Sight report.
Transphobic Hate Crime 4 thousand 355 up 56% I think of the hundreds of candles we light for our transgender siblings on Trans Day of Remembrance on the 20 November each year.
These hate crime figures are shocking.
Every figure represents someone from our communities who has become a victim of someone else’s hate and prejudice. Someone we love.
Someone we care about.
We have a right to be angry – but we must channel our anger to make sure we change things for the better. We do not want to fuel hate and make things even worse.
These figures are shocking.
But hate crime is still under reported so we should expect these figures to rise even further. We need to keep a watchful eye on this Government and make sure that they don’t tinker with the system to discourage people coming forward.
The good news is that so many people are reporting hate crime. Which is what we need them to do.
Despite everything else that is going on in the world. Despite the pandemic, despite the war in Ukraine, despite the cost-of-living crisis, despite the threat to the future of our wonderful planet. Despite underfunded services, despite lower sanction detection rates, and despite some appalling outcomes.
I think of four lives lost. I think of Sarah Everend.
It is up to us. It is up to us. It is up to all of us. To ensure that their voices are heard. To ensure that their cases are properly investigated. To ensure that they get the best advice and support they need.
It is up to us. To ensure that we hold the authorities to account. To ensure all key partners play their part. To ensure that tackling hate and prejudice is a priority on the social and political agenda.
It is up to us. To bring people together like we are doing today and this week. To keep on saying there is no place for hate in our communities.
Until the day comes when we can all live in peace and harmony together.
That day is getting closer. Thanks to you and people like you, Together we are already making a difference.
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NB: Statements of Support have been received from the Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer and the Co-Leaders of the Green Party
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2nd Speaker: Claire Waxman London's Victim's Commissioner
It’s a pleasure and a great honour to be speaking to you in supporting the launch of National Hate Crime Awareness Week, lighting the Candle of Hope and Remembrance, and to share in this moment of reflection for those whose lives have been impacted or even lost by hate and intolerance.
As London’s Victims’ Commissioner, I was appointed by the Mayor to improve the experience of victims in the capital, and so I commit myself to supporting those who are impacted by hatred.
World events, as we know, have a remarkable and profound impact on individuals here in the UK. We know that Muslim community see increased rates of hate crimes following terror attacks globally; there are marked increases in antisemitic hate crimes following events in the Middle East; and East and South-East Asian Communities have suffered considerably through the COVID-19 pandemic. So much so, a free national 24-hour helpline called On Your Side, was set up in response.
As COVID upended our lives, those of Chinese descent faced a double threat. Not only were they grappling like everyone else with how to avoid the virus itself, but they were also – and continue to – contend with growing racism in the form of verbal and physical attacks.
Others from the South-East Asian community — with families from Korea, Vietnam, and other places — face threats too, lumped together by a bigotry that does not know the difference.
People who already hold these views feel emboldened, not only by the events themselves, but by people in positions of power who spout hateful rhetoric.
We must confront the language used by politicians, public figures, and the media in stirring intolerance and fanning the flames of hate, and we must also ensure that education is central to our approach, allowing young people to grow up in a more tolerant and accepting society.
Identifying and countering hate crime and extremism is a priority for the Mayor and for me, enabling us to support hate crime projects in every London borough.
We have an excellent service for victims of hate crime in London, provided through the CATCH Partnership, and made up from a range of organisations supporting all those who are affected by hate, including
- GALOP
- The Monitoring Group
- CST
- TellMAMA
- Choice in Hackney
- Stay Safe East
- and Real.
Hate crime victims often have complex needs, and we know these are best met by specialist providers … providers who are part of the same community and have a better understanding of the history, culture, and experiences that victim has had.
I have recently held roundtables with Black women, focusing on their experiences of violence, and one of my key takeaways from this was the need for services that are not just trauma-informed, but also culturally competent.
This recognition of culture and trauma also needs to extend to the police and wider CJS to ensure that victims are properly supported, and hate crimes are treated with the severity which they deserve.
Working with people who have such a passion and dedication to supporting others has been of great inspiration to me in continuing this work.
And I want to thank Mark Healey and others who not only supported today’s events but dedicate themselves to being there for others. Together we will overcome hatred. Thank you
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3rd Speaker: DR Yeow Poon representing CARG
Racism against people of Chinese, East and Southeast Asian heritage goes back to at least the 19th Century during the Opium Wars between the UK and China. The phrase Yellow Peril became popular and it was particularly bad in the period between the First and Second World War, as Chinese people were often portrayed in novels, plays and the press, as sinister, malevolent and wanting to dominate the world.
From the 1960s onwards until recently, there were little overt racism against Chinese people in the UK mainstream media but the tone was always there. Chinese people working in catering, in restaurants and in takeaways bore the brunt of what is often seen as jokes, like using the C-word or making slanty eyes. Most Chinese children in schools have also experienced harassment and/or bullying.
When the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020, the impact was immediate in Chinatowns across the country as businesses reported reduced numbers of customers. As the pandemic spread in the UK, the mainstream press was mostly using images of Chinese people in masks in Covid-19 news reports, even when the articles had nothing to do with China or any other East Asian countries. There was also misinformation around wet markets and Chinese eating habits. As racism and hate crime against people of Chinese looking people began to spike, there were physical attacks and defacements of Chinese takeaways.
CBBC Newsround interviewed some Chinese children in February 2020 about their experience of racism during the coronavirus pandemic. The children explained that they had been bullied and called names and many are scared.
• "Since this coronavirus started, I've definitely had more criticism and more racist comments."
• "When I was out running with my mum, there was these teenagers in a car swearing at us, because we are Chinese."
CARG (Covid-19 Anti-Racism Group) was established in April 2020 by a group of concerned UK citizens who felt strongly that the media was either inadvertently or knowingly stoking racism and hate crime against Chinese looking people by the indiscriminate use of images.
In 2022, we renamed CARG as Campaign Against Racism Group to tackle the broader increase in Sinophobia due to geopolitical tensions between West and China. CARG is however apolitical and will not take sides. Our concern is how Sinophobia might impact on hate crime against Chinese people. For example:
• Just 2 weeks ago, the Glasgow Times reported anti-Chinese slogans painted around the grounds of Glasgow University with the words “Kill the Chinese”.
More specifically, CARG will be focusing on institutional racism embedded in the UK justice system and in the school curriculum. CARG wants to develop long term policy and institutional change through engagement and collaboration with others, not just within the British East and Southeast Asian communities, as institutional and systemic racism affects all of us.
Hence, CARG fully supports the work of #NationalHCAW and is honoured to be part of the 2022 National Hate Crime Awareness Week. We are thankful that the National Candle of Hope and Remembrance is lit in memory of victims of Race Hate Crime experienced by the East and Southeast Asian communities.
CARG will work closely with #NationalHCAW in the next 12 months to further develop the theme “We Stand Together Against Racism”.
In particular, we will focus on education, the curriculum and how schools can be safe places for all children, whatever their backgrounds, to learn and grow, as well as to learn to accept and respect each other diverse backgrounds
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