News

Homophobic hate crime survey published

Left to right: Christine Fleetwood, Gary Jefferson, Helen Thompson
and Robin Stannard | click to enlarge

The Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender coalition on Swindon Borough Council will be joining Wiltshire Police and the University of Portsmouth in a campaign to highlight the need for homophobic reporting in Swindon.

Chair of LGBT Swindon, Helen Thompson said, "Any rise in crimes against people in our Swindon community is bad news. If these crimes are homophobic in nature and motivated by hate, then we must do all we can to stamp it out.

"As a Council-sponsored coalition which has the gay communities concerns uppermost in our minds, we feel it important that we work with the police and other agencies to ensure Swindon is a safe place to visit and live."

Wiltshire police Community and Race Relations officer, PC Robin Stannard said, "The Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at Portsmouth University have been tasked to carry out an independent survey of gay people this Friday in the towns gay bars and night-club. We need to know if the fear of crime is stronger than the actual crimes, which are reported. Wiltshire police need to know if they are performing effectively in Swindon to ensure this is a safe town, so this consultation exercise will highlight the satisfaction rating of our policing service. If the gay community believe we have failed them, then we need to be informed and use that information to target extra policing. We are happy that the LGBT coalition are fully supportive of this survey and will assist with gathering the information."

Gay Men’s Health Wiltshire and Swindon manager, Garry Jefferson said, "GMH fully support the objectives of making Swindon a safer place for all people. It is important that everyone has a voice in the development and quality of services."

Mr Dean Blackbourn, Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Portsmouth University, has a record of research on homophobic hate crime and police diversity training. He is the author of the survey and says, "I hope that this anonymous survey will build a bridge between the police and gay people if there is a feeling that they have been let down. It is important that people complete this survey as the views of the community are invaluable to service providers."

The survey is available here on the LGBT website until 31st December. All submissions will be anonymous. A report into the initial findings will be published in mid-January.

The survey has now closed!