Help For Homophobic Crime Victims
Home Office Press Release
29 December 2006
New ways to tackle homophobic hate crime and help make gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people (LGBT) feel safer has
been published by the Home Office today. "Tackling Homophobic
Hate Crime" highlights good practice from around England and
Wales, and stresses the best way for crime reduction agencies,
including the police, to do more to crackdown on crime motivated
by prejudice or hate. It states agencies that are part of Crime
and Disorder Reduction Partnerships should encourage more victims
and witnesses to come forward to report homophobic hate crime;
improve the response of the criminal justice system; increase
confidence in the criminal justice system so that people feel
they can report homophobic hate crime; improve data sharing; and
tackle repeated victimisation. The guidance features excellent
examples of tackling hate crime through raising awareness,
encouraging victims to report crimes and tools, such as fixed
penalty notices and penalty notices for disorder, which police
and other partners can use to tackle this form of hate crime.