Better responses to hate in society: stronger cooperation is key
13/12/2018
Press release
The correlation between hate speech and hate crimes can no longer be denied with the recent antisemitic attack in Pittsburgh. At the Facing All the Facts conference, government officials, civil society representatives, IT companies and community representatives will gather for the shared goal of improving cooperation between stakeholders in order to provide better responses to hate incidents.
Preliminary results of transnational research to improve national hate crime recording systems will be released along with 10 online courses for police and civil society on the topics of hate speech, hate crime and bias indicators during the one-day conference that will take place on 11th December at Microsoft Brussels.
The Facing All the Facts project aims to unmask the full extent and nature of hate crime and hate speech working through a coalition of civil society organizations, policy leads, national law enforcement authorities and practitioners with a focus on, but not limited to, six European Member States: UK, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Italy and Hungary. The conference will be an opportunity to explore for the first time the 10 new online courses: tailored courses on hate crime for police in the UK, Hungary and Italy; specific bias indicator courses on hate crimes targeting Jewish, Muslims, Roma, disabled, LGBT and migrant communities.
“Facing the facts of hate crimes is a crucial step towards better policy measures and to confront the problem of hate in society. The legislation is already in place in the EU, but training is key to effective policy implementation. The Facing Facts Online courses help to bridge the gap between policy and practice,” – says Robin Sclafani, director of CEJI-A Jewish contribution to an inclusive Europe, lead partner of the Facing All the Facts project.
These courses are hosted by Facing Facts Online, the first and only e-learning platform dedicated to the topics of hate crime and hate speech. Launched in December 2016 at Google Brussels, the platform currently offers two highly interactive and easily accessible courses on hate speech in English, French and German and another course for civil society organisations on hate crime monitoring. With over 500 users to date, Facing Facts Online is at the early stage of becoming a specialized online course provider.
The conference will also host the exhibition ‘Beyond the act of hating’ from the award-winning documentary photographer Claudia Janke and conclude in a moved reading of an explosive play about a notorious hate crime that changed the hearts and laws of America for all time: ‘MATT’- performed by professional actors and students from London’s renowned Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
4th December, 2018
