Operation Report Hate
#OperationReportHate is a campaign aimed at raising awareness about hate crimes and the need to report them
#StopTravellerHate
#OperationReportHate is a campaign aimed at raising awareness among a vast majority of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller individuals about hate crimes and the need to report them. We have partnered up with a number of leading stakeholders and charities to achieve this aim.
The campaign will also be highlighting the fantastic work of organisations that work to improve reporting rates and make good practice and resources readily available and easily accessible to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.
The end goal is for hate crimes against Gypsy, Traveller & Roma people to be given the same public profile and recognition as other hate crimes.
How can I support the campaign?
There are a number of easy ways for you to lend your support for the campaign and help us achieve our goal!
Write to your MP asking them to support the campaign
Support the campaign on social media
Posters for your office, school & public places
Events during Hate Crime Awareness Week
Write to your MP asking them to support the campaign
An effective way to raise the profile of the campaign, and highlight the issue of hate crimes against GRT communities is to write to your local MP.
To make things easier, we have drafted an email which you can copy and paste in an email to your MP. You can also edit this draft to best suit the message you want to convey.
To find your MP and get their email address, visit the Parliament UK website. Let us know who you have contacted, so we can ensure their support with this campaign! Email policymanager@travellermovement.org.uk to let us know.
Subject: Support #OperationReportHate
Dear MP,
I am writing to you to ask you to support #OperationReportHate, which is a campaign for hate crimes against the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities to be given the same public profile and recognition as other hate crimes.
As you will be aware, since the EU referendum result there has been an alarming increase in the number of hate crimes and the GRT communities have been victims of such offences. Hate crimes against Gypsies and Travellers are also underreported, which means these crimes remain the lowest of priorities.
To show your support, please share a photo of yourself holding an #OperationReportHate poster (which can be downloaded here) on social media using the hashtag: #OperationReportHate. This simple act will help bring greater public attention to hate crimes and the need to report them.
I hope you can support the #OperationReportHate campaign in highlighting the need to report and record hate crimes against GRT communities.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
[INSERT NAME]
Support the campaign on social media
Social media is a powerful way to spread the message of the campaign and to help get wider public support.
Posts with photos on Twitter and Facebook get shared the most, so to help get the campaign as much attention as possible we have designed flyers and infographics for you that you can share on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
Please encourage as many of your friends, family and colleagues as possible to do the same!
Another good way to get the message out there on social media is to send tweets to people with large followings, such as celebrities and politicians (Councillors and MPs) and asking them to share these images with the #OperationReportHate hashtag.
Suggested tweet:
Please show your support for ending hate crimes against Gypsies, Travellers and Roma and support #OperationReportHate
Don’t forget to tag us on our Twitter Facebook and Instagram
Posters for your office, school & public places
We have also produced this poster to put up in your office, school or local community centres. Right click with your mouse of the image to save to your device.
Support the campaign on social media.
Social media is a powerful way to spread the message of the campaign and to help gain wider public support. Share photos of you and the poster in your community, whether that be in your office, school, or local library.
Alternatively, you can share one of the flyers/infographics above.
Please encourage as many of your friends, family and colleagues as possible to do the same!
Another great way to get the message out there on social media is to send tweets to people with large followings, such as celebrities and politicians (Councillors and MPs) and ask them to have this poster displayed in their local community!
Events during Hate Crime Awareness Week
National Hate Crime Awareness week takes place every year. Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people have not been accurately represented during this important week. To ensure inclusion in this year’s event, we are encouraging as many organisations and community groups as possible to put on events during the week.
If you are interested in holding an event but aren’t sure how, please get in touch and we’ll try to help. We will also be posting here regularly updating people on upcoming events, so do check back.
What is a ‘hate crime’?
We use the term ‘hate crime’ to describe anything that happens to you because someone dislikes your:
- Ethnicity (Gypsy, Traveller and Roma are ethnicities)
- Religion or belief
- Sexual orientation
- Gender identity
- Disability (including learning disability and mental health)
A hate crime could be:
- Bullying
- Being shouted at in the street
- Being turned away from a pub
- Graffiti
- Damage to your property (including vans and cars)
- Hitting or punching
To help explain what is and isn’t considered as a hate crime, we have given a couple of examples below.
Examples of when you should report a hate crime:
If you go to a pub to have a drink with your friends and the landlord says you cannot drink here because you are a Gypsy or Traveller then you can report this through the True Vision website .
Another example is if you see graffiti with offensive language, such as ‘Travellers not welcome’, you can report this to the police & True Vision too.
Remember – anyone can report hate crime, not just the victim. So if you see anything like this happen to someone else, you can report it too.
Why should I report hate crime?
Hate crimes hurt the victim and the rest of their community too. By reporting a hate crime you challenged hateful behaviour that has become normalised. You may stop it from happening to someone else.
Hate crimes against Gypsies, Travellers and Roma happen a lot, but we do not report them as often as other people. If we want more to be done to protect us and our families, we need to prove how big the problem is.
The more hate crimes that we report, the more seriously they will be taken
How can I report hate crime?
If it is an emergency you can call the Police on 999.
If it is not an emergency and you want to tell the police directly, you can call 101.
You can fill in a form on the True Vision or the Report Racism Gypsy, Roma, Traveller website. The report will be sent to your local police station.
Do I have to give my name?
If you want the hate crime to be investigated then you will need to give your name and contact details.
But you do not have to give your name if you do not want to. Your report will still help to build up a picture of the hate crimes that Gypsies, Travellers and Roma experience.
What will happen next?
The police are required to investigate every hate crime reported to them.
Even if the police cannot prosecute, by reporting the crime it will be easier to get them to put things in place to help stop it happening again in the future.
