Anti-hate crime website launched

2:04pm Friday 16th May 2008

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A NEW website to help make it easy to report homophobic hate crime in Oxfordshire is online.

Members of the the county's Homophobia Awareness Liaison Team (HALT) will be out in Oxford tonight to promote the site www.oxhalt.co.uk and to mark the International Day Against Homophobia.

HALT created the site to encourage more people to report incidents of homophobia in Oxfordshire because at present it is believed that about 80 per cent of homophobic hate crime is not reported.

The website provides details of the reporting options available to people, ranging from going directly to the police, to talking it over with a representative from HALT who will be able to give independent support and information.

A HALT spokesman said: "In order to tackle hate crime we need to know when and where it is happening.

"There is definitely a problem with underreporting of homophobic crime and while people might be reluctant, it is important to tell us or the police. If it isn't reported we are missing vital intelligence to help us tackle hate crime and identify offenders."

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people can also use the website as a quick and accessible way of getting information about:

• Their rights to equal treatment by service providers
• How to stay safe when they're on a night out
• Local events and support for LGBT people
• The work HALT is doing to challenge homophobia in Oxfordshire.

HALT is a multi-agency partnership which aims to challenge and eliminate all forms of homophobia in Oxfordshire.

It includes Thames Valley Police, the Terence Higgins Trust, all five district councils, the county council, Oxfordshire NHS Primary Care Trust and representatives from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community.