LONDON
ASSEMBLY
LABOUR
Press office: 020 7983 4952
News release
22.01.2020
For immediate use
We must “work harder” to “stamp out” homophobic and transphobic abuse - Onkar Sahota AM
Homophobic hate crime in Hillingdon is 61% higher than it was three years ago, according to the latest figures from the Metropolitan Police’s Hate Crime Dashboard. In the year to December 2019, there were 61 homophobic offences recorded in Hillingdon. In the wake of these figures, local London Assembly Member, Onkar Sahota AM, is calling upon the community to “come together and work harder than ever before to stamp out homophobic and transphobic abuse” and encourage those who have experienced hate crime to report it to the police.
These figures are in line with the national picture which shows homophobic and transphobic hate crime is on the rise across England and Wales, with a total of 14,491 recorded crimes committed against people due to their sexual orientation in 2018/2019.
Despite this widespread increase in offences, research conducted by LGBT rights charity, Stonewall, suggests that four in five homophobic and transphobic hate crime incidents go unreported.
Earlier this month, in partnership with Google.org, the Mayor of London announced £800,000 of new investment to go towards tackling hate crime and extremism in the capital. This comes on top of £6 million of existing City Hall funding already being allocated towards this end.
In 2017, the Metropolitan Police established a dedicated unit to clamp down on online abuse as part of the Mayor’s “strict zero tolerance approach” to hate crime.
In September, the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee published a report which made recommendations to the Mayor about the further measures that City Hall could take to address all forms of hate crime in the capital.
Local London Assembly Member, Onkar Sahota AM, said:
“It’s sickening that an increasing number of people in our community are being targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“City Hall and the Met Police are working hard to tackle hate crime in all its forms, but we know that more often than not, incidents go unreported.
“I don’t want to see anybody suffering in silence. As Londoners, we must all come together and work harder than ever before to stamp out homophobic and transphobic abuse. It’s not always easy to call out prejudice when we see it, but there are many things we can do to help, and that includes reporting hate crimes to the police.”
ENDS