Students and staff who are victims of hate crime now have access to a new reporting centre at Kirklees College.
And the college has also trained 80 frontline staff to be able to support people who are victims of hate incidents.
A hate incident is motivated by an offender’s hatred of someone because of their race, sexual orientation, disability and/or faith and religion.
The move means that the college can now help its students and staff to report hate incidents, but it can also be accessed by members of the public.
Polly Harrow, Head of Student Support at Kirklees College, said:“Everyone has the right to live without fear of persecution because of who they are, what they look like, where they come from or what they believe. This is giving a strong message to our whole college and local community about the importance of upholding our values of respect and equality for all.
“Hate crime can take place anywhere - at home, in the streets, at work, and at schools. Incidents can include threats, verbal abuse, graffiti, arson, robbery, violence towards people and damage to property. It affects individuals, families and communities.”
The Kirklees Hate Crime Strategy was launched by Clr Jean Calvert in October last year with the support of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson, Superintendent Ged McManus and Kirklees Council’s Chief Executive Adrian Lythgo.
Clr Calvert added: “This is an important new initiative and reinforces our message that we will not tolerate hate crime. Anyone affected by such crime needs to report it and get support and the college’s actions will make this easier for this to happen.”
The strategy has three key priorities: Preventing Hate Crime from happening, Operational response to Hate Crime and Supporting Victims. Other Hate Incident Reporting Centres currently operating in Kirklees include the University of Huddersfield, Probation Service, Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing and Citizens Advice Bureau. Staff at all Library and Information centres are currently receiving training.
Residents in Kirklees can alternatively report directly to the police by completing an online report at www.kirklees.gov.uk/hatereporting
Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news.
To follow us on Twitter click here
