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What is a homophobic incident?
Any incident which is perceived to be homophobic or
transphobic by the victim or any other person. This
means any incident (not necessarily a crime) which
is motivated by prejudice against LGBT people and/or
their friends and families. This might include, for
example, things such as harassment, verbal abuse,
physical threats, assaults, graffiti and damage to
property.
Why should you report such an incident?
Reporting incidents assists the police in tackling
homophobic / transphobic crime. The information you
provide is valuable, it enables the police to
identify areas of concern, patterns of behaviour and
could possibly help catch / prosecute offenders. If
left unreported, the offenders are free to repeat
similar offences, and think they can get away with
this sort of offence because they won’t get
reported. You do not have to be the victim to report
an incident: If someone you know is a victim, or if
you witness such an incident then please report it.
Any person can say it's homophobic - The incident
need not be a crime - No incident is trivial - All
homophobic incidents and crimes will be recorded by
the police.
Who
do you contact to report an incident?
Click
here to be taken to a
webpage where you can report a Homophobic or
Hate
Crime directly to Bedfordshire Police.
You
can also contact your most local Police Officer who
works in the specialist Hate Crime Team at
Bedfordshire Police. Each officer has been specially trained
to deal with sensitive matters that arise when
dealing with homophobia. Please see the contact
information below.
If you prefer
to speak with someone not connected with the police
you are welcome to contact the Men4Men
SHOP which can
act as a liaison to report a serious incident.
What to
do if you have suffered a physical assault/attack:-
-
Report the
crime immediately to the police or via the Men4Men SHOP;
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If you have been assaulted
it is very important that you don't delay in doing this and
crucially don't shower, wash or change
your clothes. If you do this you may destroy vital evidence;
-
Don't drink alcohol or take
tranquillizers or
any other drugs
as you will need to give a clear account of what happened;
-
If
your keys are stolen, with identification of where you live
don't return home alone. If you share your house, call home
and let them know what has happened. Later replace all locks
effected.
Domestic Violence - A Resource for Gay & Bisexual
Men
The
Barking & Dagenham tPCT NHS has produced an
extremely informative booklet on this topic that can
be read using with
adobe acrobat. Click
here to download it.
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Other Contacts to Report an Assault: Men4Men SHOP The Lodge 4 George Street West LUTON LU1 2BJ Phone: (01582) 511034 Email: doug@gay-bedfordshire.co.uk
BROKEN RAINBOW LGBT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SERVICE (UK) (Provides services to LGBT people experiencing domestic violence) Hotline Number: 08452 604460 Website: www.broken-rainbow.org.uk |
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