St Helens Is No Place For Hate

The Rainbow flag has been flying proudly over St. Helens Town Hall and the Police Station to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).

While hate crime (which includes offences motivated by homophobia and transphobia) remains low in St Helens, all community safety partner agencies take it extremely seriously, knowing that it is still an under-reported crime.

The Rainbow flag has been hoisted to help raise awareness of the work being done on hate crime done to coincide with IDAHO (17 May). Many lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans individuals often use rainbow flags or rainbow images as a symbol of their identity or to show solidarity and support.

St. Helens Community Safety Partnership encourage hate crime victims to come forward and report the incident, whether to the Police directly (999 or 101) or via the independent, specialist, 24/7 national hotline 'Stop Hate UK' (0800 138 1625, or text 07717989025).

Dedicated support is on offer, whether through the Police's specialist Hate Crime Investigation Unit (the Sigma Team, based at College Street Police Station) or other local organisations (Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, local Housing Associations, Social Care teams) and community groups working to tackle homophobia and transphobia, such Armistead (0151-227-1931) and Merseyside In-Trust Network (0151-928-2233).

Council Leader Barrie Grunewald said: " We know that homophobic hate crime often goes unreported and we want to encourgae anyone who has been a victim to come forward and report it. Nobody should ever be targeted because of their sexuality, and today we in St Helens are making it clear we stand together to tackle such discrimination. Action can only be taken if the authorities know about it, so we need people to have the courage to come forward and not suffer in silence. If it is happening to you or somebody you know I urge you to report it."

For further information please contact the Council's press and public relations team, Chris Cahill (Press and PR Manager) 01744 676166 or Nick Cook (Press and PR Officer) 01744 676165.