News Articles
19th May 2008
Local people star in homophobic crime campaign
(Source: PinkNews.co.uk)
Lesbian, gay and trans people being punched, called names, and their houses
daubed in grafitti - a new campaign highlights just some of the forms hate
crimes can take and encourages victims to report incidents to the police.
With recent Home Office figures estimating that as much as 90% of
homophobic hate crime goes unreported, one of England's biggest police forces
has launched a hard-hitting campaign starring local people.
A DVD of a short animation and supporting posters will be distributed across the
West Midlands Police region's gay scenes and other places, such as universities
and colleges.
The minute-long animation uses examples of three real-life scenarios and urges
victims to report hate crimes.
In the first scene a man returns home to find offensive graffiti outside his house.
Later, a woman is walking down the street only to be called names by two boys.
In the final scene, a man can be seen shouting abuse to another victim.
As the animation draws to a close, the viewer is encouraged to "be an individual
- not a statistic" and to report hate crimes.
West Midlands Assistant Chief Constable Gary Cann said:
"This campaign uses situations that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
trans gender communities may have experienced at some point in their lives.
"By doing this we hope to encourage people to come forward and report hate
crimes should they or somebody they know become a victim."
To view the video or for more information on how to report hate crime, visit
www.west-midlands.police.uk or www.lgbt-police.org.uk or call West Midlands
Police on 0845 113 5000.
