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3 HATE CRIME
Introduction
3.1 This section covers the public authorities in this portfolio that between them have strategic roles in delivering services related to justice in Scotland. These authorities include the Joint Police Boards and Forces, The Law Society for Scotland, Scottish Legal Aid Board ( SLAB) and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
3.2 A number of Scottish Government agencies are also covered including the Scottish Court Service, Scottish Prison Service, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy as well as the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service ( COPFS).
3.3 These bodies have responsibilities not only in relation to hate crime, but also to access to justice, victim support and community safety.
Background: wider policy context and evidence
Wider policy context
3.4 Scotland currently has in statute hate crime aggravations in relation to religious hatred and racial hatred. Religious hatred is covered by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 whilst racial hatred is covered by the UK Crime & Disorder Act 1998.
3.5 The Scottish Executive convened a working group in 2004 to look at extending the law on hate crime to other groups. Their remit was " To look at the current criminal justice system and consider improvements, including legislation, which might be made to deal with crimes based on hatred towards social groups." (Scottish Government, 2008b). The report contained a number of recommendations including introducing a hate crime statutory aggravation in relation to disability and ensuring that this is properly implemented and enforced; provision of information for victims in accessible formats; police liaison officers to take a strategic overview of ongoing harassment against particular people and groups in the community; and identifying hate crime as one of the priorities to be addressed by Community Safety Partnerships.
3.6 In November 2007, Patrick Harvie MSP brought forward a Members Bill in the Scottish Parliament relating to offences aggravated by hatred. In January 2008 the Scottish Government announced its support for the bill. The Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 19 May 2008. It covers offences aggravated by prejudice relating to disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity. The Justice Committee in the Scottish Parliament is due to commence stage 1 consideration of the Bill in January 2009. The Equal Opportunities Committee is currently considering the Bill in its role as secondary Committee. If passed, the bill will introduce provisions, similar to those relating to religious hatred, which require the court to take into account the prejudice as an aggravating factor when deciding on a sentence. The Court may then impose a harsher penalty than would be received if the offence was not so aggravated. The Court will be required to state what, if any, impact the aggravation has had on the sentence.
Research and statistical evidence
3.7 The National Schizophrenia Fellowship Scotland carried out research (National Schizophrenic Foundation 2001) into instances of harassment of people with mental health issues. If found:
- "People with mental health problems report more than twice as much harassment than the general population.
- Verbal abuse was the most common form of harassment.
- Most people thought they were victimised because of their mental health problems.
- Few thought that the police had been able to act against the harassers.
- Almost one in three people with mental health problems who had experienced harassment had moved house as a result."
3.8 Similar findings were found by the Disability Rights Commission who commissioned Capability Scotland in 2004 to carry out research into disability hate crime. Their main findings (Capability Scotland, 2004) were:
"47% of those responding to the survey reported having experienced hate crime because of their disability
73% reported experiencing verbal abuse or intimidation
35% reported experiencing physical abuse or attacks
31% of those surveyed who reported experiencing hate crime, experience attacks at least once a month
40% of those attacked informed the police." (Capability Scotland 2004:5-6)
3.9 The report also found that one in four have had to move home as a result of an attack and around a third have to avoid specific places or change their usual routine.
3.10 The "Getting Away with Murder" report (Quarmby, 2008) suggests that " Casual and institutional disablism is rife in our society. This creates an environment where disability hate crime can occur without being recognised or challenged." Further it states, " Failure to recognise disability hate crime when it occurs is the biggest barrier to being able to tackle it."
3.11 While statistics related to hate crime are collated by race and religion, similar statistics do not presently exist for other equality areas including disability.
Reporting on progress towards equality of opportunity
Introduction
3.12 The policy sections above highlight the importance of the development of law in relation to disability hate crime as the extent of this crime is currently unknown. Many of the actions needed to identify the extent of disability hate crime could be taken without new legislation being passed, for example, monitoring and recording of crimes motivated by hatred of disabled people, and even additional penalties could be added to sentences under the judges' discretion. However the creation of a specific disability hate crime does send out a strong public message that such actions will not be tolerated.
3.13 The next sections draw from the schemes, action plans and annual reports of public authorities listed in 3.1 and 3.2 aims to identify areas of progress as well as areas still requiring attention. In addition, it draws from the Scottish Government's own scheme, particularly the work of the Justice Directorate which covers the focus areas in this part of the report.
Areas where progress is evident
3.14 Progress was found to be evident in relation to:
- Developing the law
- Reporting, recording and monitoring crime
Developing the law
3.15 The key progress in this area is through the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill. This Bill is currently in passage through the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government note their support for this bill in their disability equality scheme.
Reporting, recording and monitoring crime
3.16 Recording and monitoring of disability hate crime will be a key issue if legislation including disability as a category for hate crime is passed. However, some but not all of the police forces are already recording and monitoring of disability hate crime. Of those not currently providing this a number indicated in their action plan an intention to develop this as part of their service. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service noted their continued work with Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland ( ACPOS) to identify the means to record and analyse relevant data on hate crime, and the progress on examining methods of sharing and gathering such data by electronic means.
3.17 A number of police forces also noted their provision of third party and remote reporting both in general and specifically in relation to disabled people and to disability hate crime.
Areas where progress is less evident
3.18 The main area which impacts on evidence of progress is the lack of baseline data in relation to hate crime, for example, the number of people experiencing disability hate crime or allegedly committing it.
3.19 Based on experiences relating to dealing with racially and religiously aggravated crimes, it would be expected that there would be a means of reporting hate crime which could easily be adapted or used to record disability hate crime. However, only a few public authorities noted actions on monitoring and reporting disability hate crime, although, as noted above, a number are intending to introduce such measures. Ideally, any such statistics would be also be disaggregated by other personal characteristics such as race, gender etc, however none of the public authorities included such statistics in their schemes.
3.20 Another action which might be taken, based on experience of dealing with racially or religiously aggravated crimes, was third party reporting. This enables people to report crime to recognised organisations other than the police, who then pass that information to the police. This could be beneficial in addressing disability hate crime where there are physical barriers to police premises or where the individual is dealing with sensitive issues and wants to talk to someone they already know and trust. A number of police forces noted provision of third party reporting mechanisms, however, this was not universal across all of the services. Only a few of the police forces stated that they provided training on monitoring and reporting and on third party reporting or awareness raising in relation to why disabled people might use such services.
3.21 It might be possible for fire services to monitor actions motivated by prejudice such as malicious fire raising and to ensure that their staff are trained in these issues. However there was no comment in the fire and rescue bodies' documentation in relation to hate crime.
3.22 Whilst not at the same level as hate crime, few of the public authorities noted any actions in relation to addressing disability harassment either for service users or employees. While some may do so for staff as part of a dignity at work policy, this was not evident in their schemes, action plans or annual reports, and actions to address this for services users was not evident either.
Summary and conclusions
3.23 As the public authorities in this section are the same as those discussed in the access to justice sections, all of the comments made in the summary and conclusion for that section are relevant here too.
3.24 As relates specifically to hate crime, it is really too early to make in-depth assessment of progress. Whilst it might be expected that public authorities in this area would note the recommendations of the Hate Crime Working Group which were published in 2004, many public authorities may be awaiting the passage of the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill before taking action in this area. This bill, if passed, will be a major milestone in addressing disability hate crime, and in sending out key messages to public authorities and individuals in relation to this issue. Should the bill be passed, one would expect there to be substantial, tangible progress in this area over the forthcoming years.
3.25 In particular the increase in available baseline data, particularly from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and courts in relation to prosecutions and convictions respectively will be essential in helping public authorities understand this issue and formulate actions to address them.
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