Northern Ireland is typically considered a friendly and welcoming place; however, this is not the case for those who experience hate-motivated incidents, which are often referred to as Hate Incidents and Crime.  Hate crime in Northern Ireland has increasingly become an issue in need of serious address, especially over the last few years.  While the numbers of reported incidents/crimes (per category) tend to fluctuate from year to year, a total of 3,118 hate-motivated incidents/crimes (across all categories) have taken place in the last year (July 2021- June 2023).

A hate crime incident is defined as “a crime against a person because of their race, religious belief, sexual orientation, political opinion, gender identity or disability;” and manifests itself in many forms including bullying and name calling, ‘hate’ speech or expression, damage to property, attacks to people, and hate mail/email.[2]  Any crime perpetrated on an individual simply because of their identity, religion, belief, background, race, or disability cannot be tolerated.

Recently there has been a surge in racially motivated hate crimes reported in the South Belfast area[3], with the growing appearance of hate expression in public spaces further exacerbating this issue.

There is much work being done in an attempt to address and combat this problem, for example the creation of specific hate crime legislation.  Currently hate crime legislation does not exist in Northern Ireland; therefore, crimes that are motivated by prejudice are not specifically defined by law.   When a crime is committed and is taken to court, the crime itself is charged based on the criminal offense (such as property damage, personal assault, and harassment) and does not include specificity to the hate-motivation or hostility. However, when a perpetrator is tried for a hate crime, there is an option for it to be classified as ‘aggravated by hostility’.

According to the Public Prosecution Service, for this to take place, there must be “sufficient direct evidence that the offender was in fact motivated by hostility, rather than the victim simply perceiving that offence as being motivated by hostility”.[4]

Where this direct evidence is available, then the prosecutor can ask the court to treat the offence as being aggravated by hostility, although the perpetrator isn’t charged with this.  When this occurs, the judge will be asked to consider imposing an enhanced sentence upon conviction; therefore, it is only in the sentencing phase where the prejudiced or hostile motivation comes into account.

This is a particular point of concern, as it’s important to include these transgressions into the legal system in an effort to effectively discourage similar crimes and the harm they do to the overall community. Currently, the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), along with the PSNI and other community and civil service organizations are working toward creating sustainable and effective legislation to deal with criminal conduct motivated by prejudice and hostility.

While the new legislation will be incredibly vital to approaching this issue, creating legislation is not a quick and easy task, especially with the current situation surrounding the Stormont government.  Therefore, it is vital to look at additional approaches and solutions, which was a point of discussion during many events which took place during National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2023.

National Hate Crime Awareness Week in the UK took place from 14 - 21 October 2023.  In Northern Ireland, many events were planned across the province in an effort to increase awareness on the topic of hate crime and promote services available across different organizations to help those who are victims of a hate crime and inform all on how to recognize and report hate crime as well.  This year’s theme “Put Yourself in Their Shoes”, a campaign designed by the PSNI and the Policing Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) to bring awareness to the issue of hate crime and how to report it, by encouraging people to think about how they would feel if they were a victim of a hate crime incident.

I attended a National Hate Crime Awareness Week event called “We Stand Together”, delivered by the Hate Crime Advocacy Service with Victim Support NI, which took place on 19^th October at the MAC Theatre in Belfast.

This event was run in conjunction with the Belfast Policing & Community Safety Partnership (PCSP), the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), HSBC and Housing Rights as a part of national efforts to raise awareness of the support that is available to those who are victims of or witness a hate crime.  It brought together members of the civil service, academics, charity organizations, government agencies and the PSNI to have an open conversation on the issue of hate crime in Northern Ireland, how to combat it, current and recent successes in helping victims and the steps to be taken to create sustainable change.

Over the course of the day, we heard from various speakers such as Barbara McAtamney, Head of the Department of Justice’s Hate Crime Branch, Superintendent Sue-Ann Steen, MBE, the PSNI’s Hate Crime Lead, and Professor Tim Chapman of Strathclyde University’s Centre for Law, Crime and Justice, along with two panel discussions, all covering very important topics including housing segregation and intimidation, transitional justice, developing hate crime legislation and options for a way forward.

The event began with a welcome from the CEO of Victims Support NI, Janet Bunting where she referred to hate crimes as “message crimes, because they send a message that anybody who shares the victim’s characteristics is not welcome in the community.”[5]  However, her hope is that events like ‘We Stand Together”, will bring people together to work to create a more inclusive future and send out a different message, stating that “hate crime is not welcome in our streets, our town, our country or our society”.

Host, Michael Avila (Manager, Hate Crime Advocacy Service) introduced the Hate Crime Advocacy Service (HCAS), which is a free service delivered in a consortium which includes, Victim Support NI, the Rainbow Project, Leonard Cheshire, and Migrant Center NI and is contracted by the PSNI and the Department of Justice.  Avila pointed out that in recent years the service has supported between 900-1400 victims through the criminal justice process on a yearly basis.  Superintendent Steen MBE later stated that having an advocate to help victims through the process is vital, as “advocates’ empathy and lived experiences are invaluable to helping victims who come to HCAS”.[6]

Housing segregation was discussed as one of the most significant on-going social issues in Northern Ireland, with coercive control and intimidation as the biggest influence.  Margaret Gilbride (NIHE) confirmed that housing issues are some of the most common factors in hate crime cases, with threats and attacks taking place mostly in areas still under paramilitary control and influence.  This was something I also explored in my research for my MA dissertation on racism in Northern Ireland and links to paramilitary control.

Another key issue was the integration of refugees and asylum seekers and providing them with education on Northern Ireland, as most refugees/asylum seekers are not aware of the sectarian history here, which has led to many sectarian-motivated incidents for refugees and asylum seekers.

When it comes to tackling the issue of hate crime in Northern Ireland, the task is a rather large one.  However, working together and collaborating across categories (i.e.: racism, sectarianism, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+), government sectors and various organisations, this issue can be addressed and confronted.

It all begins with acknowledgement, understanding and empathy.

As Michael Avila stated, “Empathy is what brings people together- it’s what builds community”.  Therefore, it is empathy which will lead the way to a future full of more inclusivity and acceptance.

[2] NIDirect website, 2023, https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/hate-crime

[3] PSNI Superintendent Stein (2023 We Stand Together Conference Speech)

[4] Public Prosecution Service NI (2023), Offences Aggravated by Hostility, https://www.ppsni.gov.uk/hate-crime#toc-3

[5] Janet Bunting, Welcome Speech, We Stand Together Conference, 2023

[6] Superintendent Sue-Ann Steen MBA, 2023.

 

Following the event, I had the opportunity to meet with Michael Avila for a Q&A, discussing the event and outcomes:

Q: What prompted you to create this event? Is something you do every year?

A: HCAS (Hate Crime Advocacy Service) runs an annual event for NHCAW (National Hate Crime Awareness Week) to drum up awareness, generally, about hate crime and promote the service.  Each year, we try to build on the previous year by facilitating a bigger and wider-reaching event to increase our exposure. It was important this year for us to:

1) highlight the impact the service has had since the implementation of its new (and more permanent) contract in 2022/23,

2) highlight the stories of victims and how they’ve been aided by the service and

3) to get everyone working in hate crime across the public and community sectors in the same room to

• a) facilitate joint discussion and build stronger partnership/strategies

and

• b) utilize our joint expertise to create a Hate Crime Manifesto that can be utilized and implemented into various institutions policies/strategies in addressing hate crime and discrimination.

Q: How did the events go during Hate Crime Week? What were the biggest take-aways and next steps? 

A: We’re very happy with the engagement and feedback we’ve had.  We had the right people in the right rooms hearing the right discussions and receiving the right feedback that will hopefully, eventually lead to change and better support for victims.  Next steps are the manifesto and continuing to build on this momentum.

Q: How will events like this help to address and work towards eradicating the issue of hate Crime in NI?

A: Hate will never fully be eradicated, but building partnerships, working together, improving policy and strategy, and plugging service provision gaps are all possible through events and discussion such as this.  Through this and the facilitating of more such events/engagements we believe will lead to a stronger and more resilient criminal justice system and institutions much more capable of addressing hate crime.

Q: How will the current work-in-progress hate crime legislation help with this?

A: New legislation won’t be a panacea, but it will likely improve outcomes in court, i.e., more hate crime convictions, as well as increase victim confidence in reporting and, probably most importantly, eventually work as a deterrent to would-be offenders with increased and harsher sentencing.  Generally, victims will be better supported through new legislation.  Work then needs to be done on the support/advocacy/civil service side of things to ensure the system is properly and effectively resourced, trained and staffed. 

Q: How can we bring more attention to this issue and inform the people of NI of how important it is and how big of an issue it has become?  To me it seems like a lot of the public either isn’t really aware or just don’t pay attention.  Can this be made into a bigger campaign throughout Northern Ireland - both during Hate Crime Week and throughout the year?

A: We are looking at the idea of a campaign alongside of / launched with the Manifesto.  I think this will, again, raise more awareness generally about hate crime and how to report and seek support.

 

**If you or someone you know is or has been a victim of a hate crime, please report it by contacting 999 in an emergency OR through 111 in the aftermath of a crime. You can also contact the Hate Crime Advocacy Service though their website HERE.

 

Rombsala Said

Rombsala Said is a postgraduate student currently studying Law at Queen’s University Belfast, after recently completing an MA in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, researching the issue of racism in the Northern Ireland context and the links to paramilitaries.

Rombsala is hoping to use the law degree to work in human and civil rights as a way of expanding on her previous MA course by focusing on the legal aspects of hate crime and racism, and how legislation can be developed and applied to the issue of addressing and combating hate crime of all kinds in Northern Ireland.