Memorandum submitted by the Anglican Church
of Ireland
INTRODUCTION
Shaping influences in the Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland welcomes the reinforcement
of hate crime legislation in Northern Ireland.
The Church of Ireland Community is a minority
community within Northern Ireland. With a membership of 280 000,
it represents just less than 20% of the population of Northern
Ireland. It is the second largest of the three main protestant
churches. As with many minority communities, our members, at times,
have been targeted individually and as local communities by those
perpetrating hate crimes. As with many communities, we have sometimes,
individually and as local communities, been part of the problem.
The Church of Ireland concurs with the definition
of hate crime commonly applied in the rest of the UK as subjecting
people to harassment, victimisation, intimidation or abuse because
of their race, faith, religion, disability or because they are
lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. The police definition
of hate crime used by Hertfordshire Constabulary seems to be simple
and direct. "A crime where the perpetrator's prejudice against
any identifiable group of people is a factor in determining who
is victimised."
In the UK—the phrase "crime"
includes physical attacks or assault, harassment, threats, disputes
between neighbours, swearing or making abusive remarks, people
doing things that frighten, intimidate or distress, bullying at
school or college, arson, spitting, insulting gestures and again,
we feel that these criteria would be widely recognised by many
individuals and communities in Northern Ireland.
In 2002, the Church of Ireland received funding
from the International Fund for Ireland and the Priorities Fund
of the Church of Ireland to conduct a survey of attitudes to living
with difference within our own community and between ourselves
and the wider community. The study, called The Hard Gospel
was insightful and clear. Church of Ireland members recognised
that sectarianism and other negative ways of relating to those
who are "different" is not just a problem for others
but for all of us living in the social system of Northern Ireland.
It is something that is so deeply embedded into our society that,
like the bindweed lacing itself through our hedgerows in summer,
it springs up everywhere and winds itself through all our activities.
But a heartening fact that emerged from our
study, was that the great majority of respondents both recognised
sectarianism for the evil that it is, along with racism, sexism
and discrimination and hostility on the basis of disability or
gender and wanted to do something about it. From this response
we would say that there is broad support in our community for
measures to counter hate crime.
Much of the evidence that we will offer to the
Inquiry is informed by what we learned of ourselves and our attitudes
through this study, The Hard Gospel. We also base our views
on our direct experience of ministry to our own community during
the period known as The Troubles and our efforts to offer a Christian
witness to the broader community, throughout. We also have direct
experience of the painful emotions raised by conflicting attitudes
to gender and sexuality. And finally, as a Church, we are now
challenged with examining our attitudes to those who come to our
shores as strangers.
The Church of Ireland as part of the international
Anglican Communion, is committed to finding ways to establish
a more just and integrated society where the integrity of contrasting
cultures and the human needs of those involved are respected.
We see ourselves as a bridging Church—not always a comfortable
position for a minority group to play.
The strengthening of legislation and sentencing
structures to deal with hate crime would seem to offer part of
the solution to this problem in Northern Ireland. The Church of
Ireland encourages government by all means to pursue its legislative
course, to encourage the police force in pro-active engagement
with the defence of human dignity and to support the criminal
justice system is securing prosecution of these hateful crimes.
However, the study of the Church of Ireland
community indicated that, in itself, legislation may not be sufficient
to change attitudes, perceptions and behaviours. The Church would
call for the development of a professionally managed, thorough-going
programme of information, education, persuasion and training.
The purpose of such a campaign is to establish a broad safe space
in the centre of society where non-sectarianism, non-racism, non-sexism,
and equality regardless of ability are the norm.
We believe there is still a problem in many
local communities, where subtle intimidation maintains sectarian
and racist attitudes as the social norm. We believe this situation
must cease.
SECTION ONE: REASONS
FOR INCREASE
IN CRIMES
MOTIVATED BY
HATRED
Reasons for the reported increase in crimes and
incidents motivated by hatred within and between the communities
in Northern Ireland
Factors that may contribute to greater reporting
of hate crime include:
— Increased levels of information about
hate crime.
— More knowledge of how to report hate
crime.
— Possibility of anonymous reporting
of hate crime.
— Growing acceptance that hate crime
is unacceptable.
— Perception that police will react
more objectively.
— Perception that government has prioritised
this area of crime.
— Greater awareness of vulnerable groups
by Churches.
— More church involvement with self
examination and reconciliation programmes.
— Conscious attempt by church leaders
to name the taboos that have, in the past, permitted hate crime
to flourish in a spiral of silence.
— Awareness of the architecture of
hate-crime among journalists. Both local press and bigger players
such as the BBC and UTV, and the mainstream papers now identify
hate crime as a news category and are reporting incidents, increasing
community understanding of the issues.
But our perception is that there are also factors
tending to increase the incidence of hate crime:
— More incidents of hate crime. In
particular, racist crimes seem more common as new communities
arrive in Northern Ireland.
— A lack of prosecutions tends to reinforce
the impression that hate crime is acceptable.
— Greater permeation of society by
protectionism and gang-related crime, tends to result in hate
crimes within communities.
— Some protestant communities believe
that a blind eye will be turned to intimidation and eviction of
"their" group, while that intimidation takes the form
of a stone through a window, rattling the letterbox and other
"low grade irritation".
— Similarly, it is well documented
that many nationalist communities feel the police will not defend
their rights in similar situations.
— Despite the PSNI's making progress
in altering their image, these difficulties are likely to persist
for some time in Northern Ireland.
— Increased consumption of alcohol
and drugs may raise levels of active aggression turning attitudes
into hostile behaviours and criminal actions.
— The last decade has seen considerable
housing development and demographic change. The eastern part of
Northern Ireland in particular has seen major population influxes
and new housing developments. Equally, there are areas where populations
are declining. Given the historic tension between the communities
regarding housing, the Church feels that there might be merit
in studying the issue of hate crime in relation to demographic
and infrastructural change in Northern Ireland during this period.
— Society is less inclined to use formal
rules of social and business exchange, for instance around items
such as introducing, greeting, meeting and issue resolution. Is
there occasion to introduce a programme to schools and workplaces
that explores the intricacies of social and business interaction
through the lens of multi-cultural communication? Could the Trade
Unions and Employer organisations be brought into this equation?
SECTION TWO: TO
EXAMINE THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF
MEASURES TAKEN
BY GOVERNMENT
AND RELEVANT
AGENCIES TO
TACKLE PREJUDICE
AND TO
SUPPORT THE
VICTIMS OF
SUCH PREJUDICE
As indicated in Section One, there are a number
of points in relation to hate crime where there is visible progress.
However, the study The Hard Gospel, showed that within
our community there is a view that negative attitudes towards
"difference" continue to be a major problem in Northern
Ireland. Hate crime is compounded by a culture of silence, avoidance
and even acceptance of attitudes and behaviour that are unchristian,
and to us, unacceptable.
The creation of the Equality Authority was a
very welcome and positive move. But it needs to operate beyond
the obvious and start engaging with the difficult issues. The
media are highlighting racism in Northern Ireland. We need to
see police enforcement. Sectarian incidents are daily news. But
until very recently, they haven't been recorded, monitored or
even had official criteria to label them, never mind prevent them.
And Northern Ireland desperately needs to get these issues aired
for debate in the whole community. We need an agency tasked not
just with enforcement, but with providing information, education
and training.
We also need a mechanism, perhaps linked with
the enforcement agency, to identify the victims of these crimes.
Currently, victims are primarily part of a criminal justice process,
when an incident is actually prosecuted. Otherwise they remain
the unknown and very isolated person or family who feels unable
to make a complaint, or whose complaint is not taken any further.
Again, we are confounded by silence, by fear and by failing to
know what we should do about it if someone tells us of such a
crime. Tea and sympathy are not great substitutes for restorative
justice, the firm enforcement of human rights and protection of
human dignity.
There is a cost to providing this level of support.
Has the exchequer made this a budgetary priority? Will there be
central funding? How will the different systems being introduced
throughout the UK impact on the availability of funding? There
is a widespread feeling in our Church of Ireland community in
Northern Ireland that the victims of sectarian, racial and other
forms of hate crime, receive inadequate support, and that there
is little that is truly restorative.
SECTION THREE: TO
ASSESS THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF
THE EXISTING
LAW AND
PROPOSED CHANGES
TO THAT
LAW.
There is increasing awareness that the form
of legislation in Northern Ireland may differ from that in the
rest of the UK. This is particularly so in the areas of equality
legislation (the proposed Single Equality Bill for NI), proposals
relating to human rights, and also, to the current issue, hate
crime.
The reasons for this are not well understood,
and, have not been broadly explained or debated. There certainly
ought to be both information and debate on this approach to legislation
as well as some mechanism to gather feedback.
In part, this lack of public information and
debate has resulted in different views on the legislation developing
within the Church of Ireland, as within wider society. There are
some within our Church who see the proposed legislation as offering
a very progressive approach to the defence of human rights and
dignity. Other groups plainly feel concerned that NI will have
"different" legislation to the rest of the UK and are
also anxious at the punitive tone of that proposed legislation.
It is therefore difficult to present a single
thought that encapsulates "the Church of Ireland response";
overall, while supportive of the thrust of legislation, our community
is concerned that different rights, legislative structures and
enforcement policies will exist within the UK and Northern Ireland.
We see this as both a conceptual and practical problem. It must
present administrative difficulties for organisations operating
in more than one region of the UK. The fact that different rights
may be legislated for in different regions of the UK leads us
to conclude that we are heading towards a situation where, apparently,
human rights will be linked to regional residency rather than
to citizenship. Human rights is a global issue of justice. Why,
within the UK and Northern Ireland, are we not aiming for a single
unified approach? Ideally, one that is integrated within the framework
of EU legislation also.
Government measures may sometimes be perceived
to be very structural, focused on economic development, education,
legislation, policing and enforcement. There is a perception that
more resourcing is required for programmes that address attitudes
and behaviours. Some means of addressing these issues at a societal
level, perhaps using some of the educational structures as a foundation
might create a progressive dynamic by reaching into community
structures.
The existing law, while dispersed in a number
of pieces of legislation, covers the principles involved. Recent
publicity about hate crime has raised awareness of people's rights
and of how to report hate crime. PSNI initiatives, particularly
in relation to gender- and race-related hate crime encourage a
greater sense of security among victims to report such instances.
However, this profile needs to be built on and extended to cover
the very significant area of sectarian crime. The Church welcomes
the initiative to bring sentencing structures into line with the
rest of the UK.
The Church notes that concepts of restorative
justice that appear in legislation and implementation in the rest
of the UK are not evident at this stage of development in Northern
Ireland legislation. The Church would encourage government to
look at incorporating concepts of restorative justice in NI.
If there is a concern, it is that the Northern
Ireland legislation places too exclusive an emphasis on the prosecution
and punishment of hate crime and perhaps, insufficient emphasis
on the development of integrated communities.
Existing legislation makes it possible to prosecute
hate crime. Yet something is preventing the prosecution of hate
crime in Northern Ireland. Prosecution figures are extremely low,
yet recorded rates of crime in those categories where statistics
are available (racist attacks) indicate a higher rate of per capita
incidence than the rest of the UK. Anecdotal evidence suggests
that sectarian crime is equally problematic, although, no statistical
record of sectarian incidents is kept. The Church would strongly
urge the gathering of information and statistics to enable evaluation
of the success of the legislation. The Church would urge government
to explore why prosecutions are so few before relying so heavily
on further legislation to reduce what is a very real problem for
us in Northern Ireland.
The historic situation in Northern Ireland presents
the state with a different perspective on the problem of sectarian
hate crime compared with the rest of the UK. Some sections of
the community may not find the PSNI the appropriate agency to
implement restorative justice aspects or community development
work which would seem to be a necessary component. Would government
consider working with social partners in the community, or to
set up structures to work in both communities?
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