The University of Nottingham (UoN) has partnered with Nottingham Citizens to raise awareness of hate crime.
Nottingham Citizens have released a survey to not only raise awareness of hate crime, but to also get an “accurate snapshot of what hate crime looks like in Nottingham.”
Impact reached out to Bilal Hussain who works for Nottingham Citizens. Bilal told Impact their overarching ambition is to make Nottingham “a more together, more welcoming and safer place to call home.”
He went on to say that this is an important issue as “hate crime is one of the most under-reported and under-recorded categories of crime. [Therefore,] official statistics are never representative of the real picture.”
“[we] are hoping that the research will benefit from the rigor and expertise that comes with partnering with the University”
Nottingham Citizens have commissioned Professor Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, of the University of Nottingham, to help conduct the research. Talking about their collaboration with the UoN, Bilal told Impact that they “are hoping that the research will benefit from the rigor and expertise that comes with partnering with the University,” as it is “one that is known for its world-class research.”
With the survey being circulated to students at the UoN, Impact asked if there have been many cases of hate crime involving students. Bilal said that they “have had cases where students have told them harrowing stories of hate crimes they’ve suffered in the streets, in nightclubs, at work, and in open public stores.”
Bilal also stressed the importance of establishing contact with the police, “even if it does seem small, reporting adds to official statistics and gets authorities like the police and the council to take hate crime seriously.”
Impact was also able to get into contact with two students from the UoN, who have been involved with Nottingham Citizens since last year.
“being silenced is one of the most potent forms of hate crime because it changes you as a person”
One of the students, Valya Sidorenko, told Impact that she got “involved because it is an important issue and there are so many international students who want to feel safe in the city.”
Talking about hate crime issues within the University, the other student said that there have been a few “cases of hate crime within the University grounds itself. Some go unreported because the students are generally not aware that it is a discrimination issue. Others dismiss it as a joke or nothing important to notice.”
She goes on to say that “being silenced is one of the most potent forms of hate crime because it changes you as a person.”
The two second-year students did release their own preliminary survey last summer that “concentrated not only on the aggressive and active manifestations of hate crime, but also on the early signs of it socially affecting university students.”
The survey can be found here
If you want to get involved then you can contact Valya via her email address: leyvs5@nottingham.ac.uk
Amirah de Bourg
Featured image courtesy of ‘Shamraze/Nuhaize’ via Flickr. License here.
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