Race hate crimes against Bedfordshire children highest for three years

An NSPCC investigation has found that race hate crimes against children have reached a three-year high in Bedfordshire.

The children’s charity asked forces across the UK for stats on race hate crimes through a Freedom of Information request.

They found that in Bedfordshire there was a 51% increase in these crimes against children in the last three years. Victims were as young as 11-years old.

Child hate crime figures for East of England

Northamptonshire Police did not respond

Nationally there were 10,571 offences in 2017/18, an average of almost 29 a day. This is a 21% increase since 2015/16.

As part of their national research, the NSPCC spoke to one ten-year-old girl who told a heart-breaking story about how she was a victim of hate crime.

“I’ve been bullied ever since I started school.” she said. “The bullies call me nasty names. It makes me feel so ashamed.

“My friends won’t hang out with me anymore because people started asking why they were friends with someone who had dirty skin.

“I was born in the UK but bullies tell me to go back to my own country. I don’t understand because I’m from the UK.

“I’ve tried to make my face whiter before using make up so that I can fit in. I just want to enjoy going to school.”

Other children also told the NSPCC-run service Childline they were being targeted because of the way they looked, and reported being told to “go back to their own country”.

“I’m being bullied at school because I’m Chinese.” said an 11-year-old girl. “The other kids say that my skin is yellow, call me names, and it gets me really down.

“I hate the way I look so much, I think if I looked different everyone would stop being mean to me and I’d fit in.

“I’ve tried to change the way that I look by using eyeliner so that I fit in more. I don’t want to tell my parents because I think it would upset them.”

Another 16-year-old Muslim girl told counsellors: “In the last few weeks, I seem to be getting racist comments wherever I go.

“People call me a terrorist and keep telling me to go back to where I came from. I dress in traditional Muslim clothes and I think it singles me out.

“I usually just put my head down and get on with it but it’s getting to the point now where I genuinely feel like I might get attacked.”

In response Childline held 2,617 counselling sessions about race and faith based bullying between 2015/16 and 2017/18.

But they said many of these crimes may go on unreported, saying that boys are less likely to come forward and it was mostly children aged 12-15 who made contact.

Childline counsellor Atiyah Wazir said: “Over the eight years that I’ve volunteered as a counsellor it is just as heart-breaking every single time a child tells you they wish they looked different.

“These children have been made to feel shame and guilt and sometimes daren’t tell their mums or dads about it because they don’t want to worry or hurt their feelings.

“I want every child to know that this bullying is not ok, they have nothing to be ashamed of, and Childline is always here to listen.”

The Bedford Independent showed the NSPCC’s report to Bedfordshire Police, who suggest that much of the increase is due to children having more confidence to report the crimes.

“Hate crime is unacceptable, but sadly traditionally it’s an underreported crime,” said force hate crime sergeant, Carl Perri.

“Over the past few years we’ve been working closely with schools and educational establishments to educate young people about hate crime, what it is and the different forms it can take.

“Part of this work has been to educate teachers so they feel more confident in recognising hate crime and how to approach it and report it.”

While it may make the figures go up, Bedfordshire Police say the main point here is to get hate crimes reported, so they can be dealt with.

Sergeant Perri adds: “We continue to work with partners to make reporting hate crime easier, and now have 16 third party reporting centres who can take reports of hate crime on our behalf.

“These centres allow victims and witnesses of hate crime to report it in familiar surroundings and to someone they may feel more comfortable with.

“Staff at the third party reporting centres have been trained to assist a victim or witness in submitting a report to the police, and can make such a report on the victim or witness’ behalf.”

Bedfordshire has the ninth highest hate crime detection rate across all 43 forces in the country.

This may serves as reassurance for some, but as Sergeant Perri points out, Bedfordshire Police can only tackle crimes like this if people feel confident and comfortable reporting it.

Head of Childline John Cameron also commented on the report: “Childhood bullying of this nature can cause long term emotional harm to children and can create further divisions in our society.

“If we see a child bullying another because of their race we need to tackle it head on, by explaining that it’s not ok and how hurtful it is.

“I would urge any child who is being targeted because of their race to contact Childline, and any adult to call the Helpline if they are worried about a child.”

If you have been a victim of race hate crime or bullying of any kind, Childline offers a safe, confidential place for you to talk about what’s happening to you.

Whatever your worry, whatever you need help with, Childline is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Just call, 0800 1111 (all calls are free) or log onto the 1-2-1 counsellor chat at Childline.org.uk.

The NSPCC also offer a helpline where adults can get advice and support, share their concerns about a child or get general information about child protection.

This helpline is also open 365 days a year. Just call 0808 800 5000.