Hate Crime Awareness Week is here again, running from 9 to 16 October, and we believe it is essential to mark it in schools and other education settings. Hate Crime Awareness Week is a week of activities aimed at increasing public awareness of hate crime and educating people about preventing it.
Hate crime is defined as any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or a witness, to be motivated by prejudice against a personal characteristic such as disability, transgender identity, ethnic background, sexual orientation, religion, or a combination of these. This might be verbal abuse, assault or damage to property.
In schools and other educational settings hate crime is not unusual, it just tends to be called bullying. Perhaps the most important lesson we can help our pupils learn is to understand that we are all of equal value, by virtue of being human, and must always treat one another with respect.
As educators, we have an important role to play in educating against prejudice and hate. We need to help our young people understand and accept diversity as a natural expression of our shared humanity. It is also essential to help them understand that we all have multiple identities, and those who have more than one Protected Characteristic (as defined in the Equality Act 2010) are at exponentially greater risk of harassment or discrimination.
Hate Crime in England and Wales has risen steadily in recent years and, according to information from the Home Office, in 2019-20 there was an overall increase of 8% of hate crimes reported. The rise is even sharper (9%) for disability hate crimes, and we strongly echo the recommendation from the Equality and Human Rights Commission that schools should do more to help pupils better understand disability and the prejudices disabled people face. CSIE has been helping schools do this with our disability awareness workshops for pupils, (with link to http://www.csie.org.uk/training/index.shtml#pupilworkshops please) which typically 95-100% of participants say that they found helpful.
Hate Crime Awareness Week, like other designated days and months, provides a wonderful opportunity to respond to prejudice, explore it, educate others about it and review what more a school can do, for example ensuring that all Protected Characteristics are represented in the curriculum and throughout the setting. This should give everyone additional opportunities to celebrate diversity, appreciate it as a rich learning resource and enable the whole school community to have the vocabulary and the confidence to respond constructively to any indication of prejudice.
In addition to the disability awareness workshops mentioned above, our award-winning equality toolkit can help primary and secondary schools ensure everyone is safe, included and learning. Equality: Making It Happen, (with link to http://www.csie.org.uk/resources/current.shtml#equality2016 please) only £35 if bought directly from CSIE, is a succinct and user-friendly toolkit to help schools address prejudice, reduce bullying and promote equality holistically.
