This is National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2017, where hate crime is defined as an offence which is perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personal characteristic.
This Welsh Government debate calls on us to note “the progress made in relation to the Welsh Government's 2014 Tackling Hate Crime Framework”.
The ‘All Wales Hate Crime Research Project’”, on which this is based, recommended that:
“More needs to be done to increase the confidence of victims and witnesses to report hate incidents and to promote the view that reporting hate is the “right thing to do”.
And that the “Welsh Government should take the lead on ensuring that accessible third-party reporting mechanisms are in place for victims who don’t want to report directly to the police”.
Police recorded 52,528 hate crimes in 2014-15, up 18% annually with more than 80% being racially motivated – although the annual Crime Survey for England and Wales suggested hate crime had fallen by 28% over the previous seven years.
Overall, Police recorded crimes in England and Wales in 2015/16 increased a further 19%, with 79% being race hate crimes.
In July to September 2016, Police recorded hate crime increased 22% in North Wales to 56 incidents, 52% in Dyfed Powys to 35 incidents, 22% in Gwent to 77 incidents and 10% in South Wales to 276 incidents.
AND Police recorded hate crime figures in England and Wales published today show a further 29% rise in 2016-17 – with Home Office statisticians saying that this is thought to reflect both a genuine rise in hate crime and ongoing improvements in crime recording by the Police.
Last month, new research showed the number of lesbian, gay and bi people in Wales experiencing hate crime had jumped from 11% in 2013 to 20% this year.
‘Any incident or crime, which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated because of a person’s impairment or perceived impairment should be recorded as Disability Hate Crime’.
Reported disability hate crimes across the UK are up 101% to 3,079 over 2 years, with reported crimes against disabled children up 150% to 450 – and the Home Office has expressed concern that disability hate crime is still significantly under-reported by victims.
Although there has been a steady increase in the overall recording of hate crime, with more victims having the confidence to come forward and the police improving the way they identify and record hate crimes, I therefore move amendment 1, noting that the “charity Victim Support has said that more needs to be done to encourage victims to come forward”.
I move amendment 2, welcoming the UK Government's consultation on the new social media code of practice provided for by the UK Digital Economy Act, that will ensure a joined-up approach to remove or address bullying, intimidating or humiliating online content, including trolling and abuse that is often disproportionately targeted at women.
Although The Older People’s Commissioner for Wales has warned that there is an increasing problem of older people being specifically targeted by criminals because of their age, there remains a gap in law that does not recognise this as hate crime.
Action on Elder Abuse - highlights research showing that over 99% of abusers who target older people are going unpunished and their February 2017 poll shows that nearly 95% agree that the abuse of older people should be an aggravated offence like hate crimes on race, religion or disability.
I therefore move amendment 3, supporting calls for crimes committed against older people because of their age to be recognised as hate crimes.
The Welsh Government’s 2016-17 Progress Report refers to the Autistic Spectrum Disorder Strategic Action Plan, but it doesn’t address hate crime against - Autistic adults and the Learning with Autism programme for Primary Schools is not necessarily about tackling hate crime.
I therefore move amendment 4, calling “on the Welsh Government to add hate crime to the refreshed Autism Strategy”.
We will be supporting the Plaid Cymru amendments although it is essential that provision of more Victim Support Officers must be delivered in partnership with Victim Support and local 3rd Sector Services.
Overall, as the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Hate Crime states: "We know that terrorist attacks and other national and global events have the potential to trigger short-term spikes in hate crime”… “As terrorists seek to divide us, it is more important than ever that we continue to stand united in the face of hostility and hatred”.