Hate Crime Laws Are Not Working - An Open Letter

Stonewall Scotland's Poster Campaign

An Open Letter to;

Kenny MacAskill MSP, Scottish Justice Secretary,

Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC,

The Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Stephen House,

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and 

The Scottish Human Rights Commission,

12 August 2014

Dear Sirs,

Ineffective Protections against Hate Crime

My Partner and I are on the receiving end of vicious Hate Crime, because of our sexual orientation. 

I had been lead to believe that the criminal justice system would protect both my Partner and myself from Hate Crime.  However, despite the grand standing that took place, heralding the introduction of Hate Crime legislation, by the Scottish Government, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and others, the law is a dud. 

The reasons for this; first, the perpetrators of the Hate Crime are all under the age of 16, and are classified as Children, and second, there is no effective monitoring of how the law protects victims of Hate Crime, allowing solutions to this problem to have been identified. 

I have been branded a “Peedo” and a “Beast” in front of my own home.  Our car windscreen has been smashed in.  Stones, bricks and other missiles have all been thrown at our home, our property is subject to regular trespass and Children will even come as far as the front door to bang and shout abuse.  What is more disturbing, is that the Children even solicited the support of wayward adults to assist in their campaign of terror, shouting “Best, Beast, Beast” at me and my home.

The Children concerned were charged and reported (through the Children’s hearing system).  I had hoped this would out an end to it.  However, because they are under 16, they were free to continue the abuse, and to encourage others to abuse us too.  They knew they would get away with it, which is why they continued, after being charged, reported and warned about their behavior. 

I have nothing but praise for my local Police Officers, who have been very supportive.  However, they find that their hands are tied.  The Police simply do not have sufficient resources locally to be effective, despite Hate Crime being classified as a national priority.  I also note, that the Crown Office does not review the effectiveness of the legislation, and the important legal protection that the law is meant to bring. 

Additionally, public policy considerations designed to promote the rights of the Child – even if the Children concerned are perpetrators of vicious abuse – trump those of the right of the victim to seek redress.  This is deeply disappointing, because as a result, my Partner and I are left without an effective remedy and, are left to suffer further torment.

Notwithstanding our legal entitlement to protection from acts of homophobic abuse, harassment and vandalism, there is little the criminal or civil law can do to help us. 

I am a qualified Solicitor, and sought refuge in the civil law.  I attempted to obtain an Interdict, with power of arrest and non-harassment orders against our abusers.  However, even this route was blocked.  In order to take this action, I would have required the cooperation of the local Social Work department, and the Police in order to obtain the identities of the perpetrators of the abuse.  That cooperation was refused owing to “child confidentiality”. 

We also approached the local Council community safety team at the City of Edinburgh Council for help.  It is now four weeks and counting, but no response.  They have done nothing to help us, nor have they offered any support.  Yet, under the Antisocial Behaviour legislation, they could take action.  So why haven’t they?  In my view, it is down to a question of priorities, and upsetting their colleagues in either Social Work or the Housing Department is not a priority.  A local council is highly unlikely to take Court action against itself now, is it?

My partner and I, are now looking to relocate away from Edinburgh.  We have had enough.  I hope that when we move, we get to enjoy the peace and quiet in our own home, and the freedom from abuse, harassment and vandalism, that we should expect. 

I now expect you gentlemen to take decisive action, given our experience, to prevent anyone else having to endure this horrific torment. 

Yours faithfully,

 Daniel Donaldson

Sexual assaults against men...surely not?

Are men and women equal in the eyes of the law when it comes to sexual assault?

Is violence against women the same as violence against men?

This is a story from the past, but relevant to today concerning our attitudes of how we justify to ourselves right from wrong based on assumptions about gender.


When I was in my early 20's, I took to wearing my Kilt out and about, just on the odd time or two. On one occasion, I had stopped to tie my shoe lace or something, I cant quite recall what.

At the same time, a group of giggly girls and women passed by, I think they may have been on a Hen Night. Anyhow, two of the group approached me and tried to lift my kilt and feel me underneath.

I was, for want of a better phrase, quite shocked and had to push one of the girls off me. I also had to be quite forceful in telling the girls to "fuck off".

It was not a "bit of a laugh", at least for me.

My fault
I was wearing my Kilt. I naturally had decided to draw attention to myself. I therefore invited this kind of act...or had I?

Role reversal

Now consider this, had my gender been female, had I been wearing a nice outfit and looked good for a night out, would it have been acceptable for a group of men to come over and attempt to feel me up?

I hope all would agree that the answer is No!

So, why then, was it acceptable for a group of girls to do this to me?

Is gender relevant?

Time has moved on.

Unfortunately, our attitudes to sexual violence against both women and men have not.

The law has also changed. The Criminal Law, recognises that assaults of this type are gender neutral.

The moral of the story is...

So the next time you see a man in a kilt, or a woman wearing nice clothes, it is not an invitation to go and feel them up, to Wolf whistle or try to sexualise them in some other way.

Most importantly, if they decide to complain to a passing Police Constable, expect to get arrested.

Above all else, they didn't deserve it, because like everyone else that night, they had chosen to wear some nice clothes.

If you have been a victim of abuse and are seeking support, please use the links below to access help, advice and support.

The sites below are largely Scottish. However, if you would like to suggest other links, please get in touch.


If you are in immediate danger dial 999 for the police.


Police Scotland
http://www.scotland.police.uk/

Victim Support Scotland
http://www.victimsupportsco.org.uk/page/index.cfm

Scottish Domestic Abuse Helpline
http://www.sdah.info/

Scottish Women's Aid
http://www.scottishwomensaid.org.uk/

Abused Men in Scotland
http://www.abusedmeninscotland.org/index.html

Broken Rainbow - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Abuse Charity
http://www.brokenrainbow.org.uk/

Edinburgh Fringe - The backstory behind Missing, performed and written by Engineer

Missing is performed and written by Engineer, a new theatre company to come out of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.  

The show tackles some of the issues connected with missing people and their families, which until now I had not considered as a human rights issue.  

I took the opportunity to speak to Simon Lyshon, one of Engineer's founding members to get the back story behind the show.  

Why the issue of Missing people?

We were living with Greg Walton from the Independent and he had written a piece about how there are an estimated 275,000 missing people in Britain every year. That is around 1 person going missing every 2 minutes - to give you an idea of scale, that's a City the size of Plymouth.  

Jesse, a co-founder along with myself, Beatrice and George, started the project after that.  

How you you go about researching the issues involved?

We were lucky to have had a good contact in Greg Walton.  He had already built up a network of people who were interested in the issue and we asked him to approach his network to see if we could talk to them.  

A lot of the work from then on involved arranging interviews.  We were a new theatre company, we lacked any previous record of tackling such big issues and the only thing we had was our former connection with Royal Central. 

We had to build up trust.  Following the initial introduction, we built that trust.  We began to record interviews.  We had to make sure we kept it real; each subtle intonation in speech and nuance was particularly important to us.  The issue remained live for many of the people interviewed and we had to keep it personal for that reason.  

Why did you decide to use Verbatim, as opposed to a more traditional form of documentary storytelling or theatre?

Verbatim is a different form of theatre.  It lives and breathes from the stories of real people. As it is based on real-life conversation, it can have a tendency to become static and dry in terms of presentation. Verbatim is known as 'documentary theatre' by many people and this brings it's own set of prejudices. We were keen to break away from this and did this by exploring ways of physicalising and presenting the text in a more active way. 

How does the set relate to the issue of missing people?

When people go missing, usually all that is left behind are the objects that belonged to them.  So, to put it into context, when we talk about the case of Luke Durbin, his sister speaks about the old caravan at the back of the house, which belonged to Luke.  In the case of Moira Anderson also covered in the show, we place a present - a box in itself - inside a cupboard, representing all of the unopened presents that Moira's mother bought for her.  

Also, some of the boxes allow us to represent the passage of time - demonstrating the passing of seasons.  Each box being labelled, Spring, Summer or Autumn and when opened sound illustrates the season, such as chirping birds in Spring.  

They represent the idea of archives, the passage of time and that all that is left of a person are their possessions.  

The show also covers the Police response, how did you research this aspect?

The character in the show is actually an amalgam of several different sources.  To be fair, it's not just about saying that the Police need to do more, or that there needs to be some sort of national database or investigating agency created.  We found out, that it is actually more complex than that. 

In one interview, we were told, and this is also in the show, that if a strong enough case could be made for a particular investigation, then the resources would be made available for that investigation.  In this respect, its not just a question about a lack of resources from the Police point of view.  

In reality, the Police have limited ways of investigating the disappearance of people.  There is only so much that can be gained from CCTV, talking to witnesses and tracking the person before they go missing.  

We also used various academic reports concerning missing people.  These reports were mainly written with a criminal justice / Police audience in mind and unfortunately don't always translate into dramatic/theatrical material very easily.  However, one useful report was entitled "Geographies of Missing People" co-authored by the University of Glasgow.  

The show is quite powerful.  It opened my eyes.  Is there any message that you are seeking to get across?

Naturally, this question did occur to us in the process of making the show.  We asked ourselves, what is Missing?  Is this about the experience of missing people, the Police, Society or the whole of the media?  

We did not consider this an equalities or human rights issue as such.  We did not want to relay a political message.  

Missing, is probably best considered as a "Human Experience"; a window into the experiences of the people left behind. 

Edinburgh Fringe - MISSING

If one person goes missing in Britain every two minutes, why do we not care?  

A simple enough message, but when combined with our societal discourses of gender, age, social and economic background to name but a few MISSING by the Engineer Theatre does not shy from pulling punches.

The performance opens in a paparazzi frenzy, a poster of Madeline McCann held aloft; almost elevated to God Like status.  This is quickly contrasted with the case of Luke, a teenage boy, who disappeared following a night out and this time not a camera in sight!  The show then shifts back into 1957, to explore the still unsolved case of Moria Anderson and jumps forward again to the mid 90s and latterly to present day.

The performance's time shifting - back and forth through each unique case - lays bear the discrepancies in Police, Media and Societal responses to such an important topic.  The Audience is invited to challenge their assumptions. 

Who is responsible for finding Missing people?  Is it the Police, Social Services, Family, Friends or the Media?  Difficult questions are asked throughout and in the case of Luke - explored through the experience of his Mum, Sister and Two Friends, we are left to consider is there an institutional hierarchy at play concerning how the Police respond or the Media get "their" story?

In another case, the Police perspective is relayed, taken from the point of view of a desk bound Officer, struggling under his case load, lacking effective resources and constantly fighting the edge of time.  Is it ever going to be realistic to find these people?

The story of MISSING is not something you would traditionally associate with the fight for equality, against discrimination or for human rights.  However, this in itself is also an assumption - a stereotype - that perhaps explains why Society has let this issue slip from the public consciousness.

MISSING shines light into that darkened, cobwebbed area of a topic hitherto unexplored.  If you are interested in equality or human rights themes or even just a story that captivates without a pin dropping on the floor - see the show.

MISSING is on at the Underbelly at 8.05 in the Cowgate.  You can buy tickets, or find out more from the Fringe Box Office by clicking here.     

To find out more about the show's company, Engineer Theatre, click here. 

  

Equality Challenges facing the "New" Police Service

Corstorphine Police Station in Edinburgh

As of 1st April 2013 a new single Scottish police force will replace 8 regional and 2 national police agencies.

The amalgamation presents a number of challenges to policing in Scotland. One of the biggest challenges comes from the legal obligations the new force will inherit as a public authority, an large employer and as a service provider under the Equality Act 2010.

This article explores what potential risks and opportunities exist for the new force from an equalities perspective.

Legal obligations

The Equality Act will apply to the new police force. 

This means that the new force will have several legal obligations that cannot be ignored.

As a public authority, the force will have to have "due regard" to the promotion of equality of opportunity, the elimination of unlawful discrimination and the fostering of good relations between individuals who share protected characteristics.

The force will also act as an employer; not just of police officers but also of a large number of civilian staff. The force must not discriminate, harass or victimise someone because of their protected characteristic.

It is also likely, that the force will be a service provider. This means, that the clients or customers of the police are entitled not to be discriminated against in accessing police services.

It is all very well talking about these issues in the abstract. However, what will it mean in practice?

Example one - Hate Crime

This is the sort of racist graffiti that should be classified as a hate crime

It has already been acknowledged, by the incumbent Chief Constable, that there may be differentials between each of the individual force areas, in relation to the recording and processing of crime information.

This is due to different IT, training and employment practices between each of the existing police forces.

How this will impact upon the recording and monitoring of hate crime remains to be seen.

The identified issue here is not one of a lack of information within the police service generally about hate crime, but rather in the administrative processes behind reporting, identifying and then tackling hate crime at a local area.

Each individual police force areas utilises its own computer systems. Likewise, each individual force currently has separate training regimes in place for training both civilian staff and police officers concerning hate crime issues - or equality related issues generally.

It is unclear whether or not a new single police force will be any better equipped to deal with hate crime than its 8 predecessor forces.

The general duty described above, requires the new force to eliminate unlawful discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and to foster good relations.

If the IT and administrative structures of the new force are not up to the task of properly identifying, recording and tackling hate crime, then it is likely that this could constitute unlawful discrimination.

It is also likely, that the new force will not be able to comply with either the general duty or the scottish specific duties.

This could leave the new force open to judicial review of decisions taken if it has not had "due regard" to these important legal obligations in adopting new IT, administrative and training systems for the prevention, recording and detection of crime.

Example 2 - Employment Practice

In all likelihood, there will be some job losses as a consequence of dismantling 8 regional police forces and consolidating these into as single scottish police force.

The most likely source of job losses will be in administrative and back of house roles. because the Scottish Government has made clear that it does not want to reduce the number of front line Police.

At the moment, each individual force has identified individuals responsible for particular equality remits. For example, many local forces have community liaisons officers responsible for pro active engagement with LGBT people, minority ethnic and particular religious groups. Similarly, other administrative roles are also primarily concerned with the pro active promotion of equality with each individual force area.

It remains to be seen whether or not such arrangements will survive after April 1st.

It also remains to be seen whether or not the new force will adopt local equality training and promotion practice or if these particular functions will be centralised - one central equality officer replacing 8 regional officers.

It is also important to ensure that as a consequence of staff attrition, particular staff skill sets, such as those dealing with equality issues are not lost.

I do not know if the new police services authority, which is meant to supervise the work of the new force, has considered this point.

It is my experience, that many public bodies, when considering redundancy situations look to cover the basic legal requirements alone. It may not occur to them to also think further about the wider equalities impact of any redundancy exercise.

Example 3 - Service Provision

It will be unlawful for the new police force to discriminate in the provision of services. However, this duty goes beyond the obvious - denying access to the police services, harassing or victimising particular groups or individuals because they share a protected characteristic.

Consider the example of campaigns designed to tackle domestic abuse.

At the moment, under 8 separate authorities, each force is empowered to work with communities and other stakeholders on particular campaigns.

In Strathclyde, a poster campaign was launched to highlight the effect of rape and domestic abuse. In Lothian and Borders, similar posters are displayed at each local police station.

What is important here, is that a message gets delivered that victims of domestic abuse will be properly supported and that the police will act to prevent domestic abuse in what ever form it takes.

The majority of campaigns on domestic abuse are gendered - they specifically target men as perpetrators and women as victims. The majority of reported cases of domestic abuse follow this pattern and it appears logical that campaigns are designed around this model.

However, as our understanding of domestic abuse develops a new picture begins to emerge. In this new picture, we now see that domestic abuse can take place in same sex relationships too and that men can also be victims as well as perpetrators of domestic abuse. It is estimated that around 20% of cases reported and recorded in scotland place men in the role of victim.

The new police force cannot discriminate in the provision of services. This means that where a particular campaign is launched around an important social policy - such as tackling domestic abuse - that this campaign should not discriminate or stereotype to be more specific.

To a certain extent, this is already happening. Strathclyde made a point of highlighting that abuse can occur within a same sex relationship too as well as in mixed sex relationships in its latest poster campaign. However, there has yet to be any campaign, whether at a local or national level, addressing the issue of domestic abuse where men are portrayed in the role of victim and requiring support.

Hope for the Future

This article has sought to explore some of the equality issues and challenges that will face the new police force from April 1st.

I hope that the new force and the scottish police authority take the importance of these obligations seriously in order to build both the trust and confidence of the many diverse communities they will be empowered to serve.

Criminalising Mental Health

In Perth sheriff court a man was recently prosecuted for disorderly conduct.  He was depressed and jumped off a bridge.  It was the anniversary of his son's death.

From a mental health practitioners point of view, it is important to provide support to someone who is depressed and potentially at risk of taking their own life.  In this post, I examine whether or not the  criminal law, in the form of the Police and the Crown takes the same view

The Equality Act 2010

As you may be aware, mental ill health often falls within the protected characteristic of "disability" in terms of the Equality Act 2010. Provided that the condition lasts, or is likely to last more than 12 months and also has a substantial effect on a persons ability to carry out day to day activities.

 This important legal protection, is designed to ensure people who have mental Ill health do not experience discrimination and are also entitled to reasonable adjustments in the work place.

This being said, where does it leave the criminal law? Obviously, if someone commits a crime, the police are entitled to investigate and the Crown is entitled to prosecute, in the public interest. However, what happens if someone is depressed and attempts to take their own life?

Police and the Crown 

Before last week, I would have answered the question with a resounding Yes! I would have confidently stated that the Police and the Crown would have had appropriate training in mental health issues, in compliance with their civil law obligations under common law, to take reasonable care, under the human rights act, to act proportionately and also under the Equality Act, as a public authority required not to discriminate and also to promote equality of opportunity as a general duty.

However, today, I am less certain and am now no longer as confident as I was before.

The reason for my uncertainty was the story mentioned above carried online by STV News.  The man was prosecuted and now potentially faces a prison sentence.  The sheriff outlined his reasoning, namely that the man had placed the rescue service at unnecessary risk and he wanted to deter anyone from taking similar action.

I am not in full possession of the facts, as such I cannot comment on the specifics of this case. However, it does concern me from what has been reported that this case was both prosecuted by the Crown and that the Sheriff wished to deter others from jumping off of a bridge.

There was no mention of the man's mental welfare or concern that support should be offered.

Support not Prosecution

If someone is depressed, they require support not prosecution.

Similarly, if someone has taken steps to take their own life life, they also require support.

We cannot allow our criminal justice system to revert to a 19th century system where attempted suicide is criminalised and where people who are experiencing mental ill health are routed through the criminal justice system because they are not offered support, or do not know where to access support.

There are exceptions to this reasoning, if someone is a risk to others, or at risk to themselves then the law must act; but only where it is appropriate to do so.

Concerns 

In the current economic climate, I am concerned that with further cut backs planned, support services for people who have mental ill health will not meet the needs of the people who they are designed to serve.

There is already a high prevalence of mental ill health within the criminal justice system.

My primary concern is that the justice system will become a poor substitute for support services that ought to be there in the first place.