Tag: Crime

Victims urged to report hate crimes

10% fall in racial hate crime charges brought by police

People affected by hate crime have been encouraged to come forward to police to ensure perpetrators can be properly dealt with.

Minister for Community Safety Annabel Ewing made the appeal following the publication of a series of reports covering hate crime, religiously aggravated offences and the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 which show:

  • Racial crime charges are the most common brought by police, but with a decrease of 10% compared to 2015/16
  • Sexual orientation aggravated charges increased by 5% compared to 2015/16
  • The number of religiously aggravated charges is the highest since 2012/13
  • 44% of victims in religiously aggravated charges were police officers
  • 377 charges were made under the Offensive Behaviour Act , an increase of 32% on the previous year. 140 of these charges relate to the Scottish Cup Final on 21 May 2016.

Minister for Community Safety Annabelle Ewing said: “Any crime motivated by prejudice is absolutely unacceptable. While the statistics show a decrease in reported racial crimes, there have been increases in those related to sexual orientation, religion and transgender identity and we cannot be complacent about these crimes are dealt with.

“I remain concerned that hate crimes are under-reported and want to encourage anyone who has been subjected to such appalling acts to come forward to ensure that perpetrators can be dealt with appropriately. We will keep engaging with community leaders on how best to raise awareness of how such crimes can be reported and in the meantime. We will continue to work with Police Scotland and others to ensure a robust response to perpetrators.

“Scotland does not exist in isolation from the rest of the world and we know that global events have an impact on the levels of hate crime that different communities are subjected to. We must ensure that we have appropriate legislation in place to deal with those who continue to perpetrate prejudice, bigotry and hatred, which is why I commissioned the Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland and expect that its findings will help us to ensure that our hate crime legislation is fit for the 21st century.

“The number of charges under the Offensive Behaviour Act demonstrate that we still have a problem with offensive and abusive behaviour related to football matches and that we need legislation to give our police the powers required to ensure that football is not immune from the standards expected in the rest of society.”

Chief Superintendent Barry McEwan, Head of Safer Communities, Police Scotland, added: “I would always encourage anyone who has been the victim of hate crime in any form, whether because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ethnicity or any other individual circumstance, to come forward and report it to the police. It is only through reporting offences that we can form a more complete picture of the issue and address is in the most robust manner possible.

“Police Scotland will not tolerate any attempts to target any community by any misguided individual or group and will work with all of our partners to resolve any issues and address any concerns. Should anyone become a victim of, or witness to, any hate crime, they should contact the police and report the incident, by calling 101 or 999 if it is an emergency.”

Hate Crime in Scotland 2016-17

Religously Aggravated Offending in Scotland 2016 – 17

 

 

Protecting children from abuse in sport: “Action needed NOW”

Scottish Football Association ‘asleep on the job’

A scheme intended to protect children from abuse in sport may not be working and needs to be rectified now, according to a Holyrood parliamentary report. The Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee says there is a compelling case for the current voluntary Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme (PVG) to be made mandatory for all sports organisations in Scotland. 

Whilst the report notes that Ministers plan to have new legislation in place by 2019, the Committee believes action needs to be taken now to strengthen the PVG scheme and to ensure ‘unsuitable people’ are prevented from doing regulated work.

The report also calls for a strengthening of the ‘Minimum Operating Requirements’ that sports governing bodies (SPGs) are required to meet in relation to child protection, recommending that future grants from SportScotland to SPGs “be conditional on adequate procedures not only being in place but being timeously adhered to”.

The committee’s inquiry into Child Protection in Sport followed allegations of historical child sexual abuse in football. The inquiry sought assurances that current safeguards in place across football and other sports clubs are such that child sex abuse in sport could not happen today.

On football, the report highlights concerns raised about a backlog of checks waiting to be carried out on coaches and officials working with young players.

MSPs say the Scottish Youth Football Association “misled government officials and the committee in relation to the levels of backlog being experienced since at least August 2016” and that the Scottish Football Association has been “asleep on the job” and complacent.

Neil Findlay MSP, Convener of the Health and Sport Committee, said: “Our evidence highlighted variations in how the PVG scheme operates in sports across Scotland. Ultimately, we believe the current system of PVG checks may not be preventing unsuitable people from doing regulated work with children.

“We’re talking about the safety of children – urgent action is needed now to strengthen the scheme as 2019 is too long to wait for new legislation.

“In relation to football, we have raised serious concerns about the ability of the SYFA to ensure PVG checks are carried out efficiently. We cannot even now be confident that the SYFA is being truthful in relation to the size of their backlog and consequently that as an organisation they are committed to undertaking the appropriate PVG checking expeditiously. We consider the SFA to have been asleep on the job and continuingly complacent in this area. Based on the information provided, we are left with concerns about the current protections being afforded to youth footballers in Scotland.”

The committee noted the relationship between the SFA and SYFA and the measures being adopted to ensure child protection policies are in place. However, the report goes on to say:

“A soft touch approach may have been previously warranted, however it is clear from the evidence we have received this is no longer applicable. The SFA have, whatever they claim, responsibilities. The current approach is simply not working effectively to protect children and young people in football and in our view the ultimate responsibility for this lies with the SFA as the governing body.”

The report also makes reference to concerns raised in evidence by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner about a “power imbalance” in the relationship between children and football agents acting on behalf of children, pointing out that agents are not covered by the need for child protection checks. The report calls for “this anomaly to be addressed and rectified immediately by the Scottish Government to prevent agents who have not been through the full disclosure procedure having access to and contact with children and young persons”