RACIST VIOLENCE IN 15 EU MEMBER STATES - Cospe

RACIST VIOLENCE IN 15 EU MEMBER STATES - A Comparative Overview of Findings from the RAXEN NFP Reports 2001-2004
police forces and institutionals, both in the UK and abroad (see country profile on
Ireland).
In 2004, a number of laws and criminal justice practices are now in place that set
out to punish racist offenders and effectively respond to victims of racism. Yet
these provisions need to be set against political and public antagonism towards
‘unwanted’ immigration, and the racist incidents of public disorder and individual
attacks that can be connected with extreme manifestations of these negative
sentiments.
18.2. MAJOR DATA COLLECTION MECHANISMS ON
RACIST VIOLENCE
See 2.2 for outline of national legislation.
18.2.1. Official data
Implementation of legislation is monitored in reports published by the Home
Office and the Crown Prosecution Service.
The Home Office
• Systematically publishes police crime statistics, including statistics on racially
aggravated offences.
• Collects and publishes data for the British Crime Survey (since 1982), which
directly asks the public about their experiences of victimisation. Certain
‘sweeps’ of the survey include booster samples of minority ethnic groups
(2000).
• Publishes intermittent research reports on minorities’ experiences of
victimisation, including violent racist victimisation, along with reports that
evaluate the impact of anti-racist legislation and criminal justice practice.
The Police
• London’s Metropolitan Police and the Greater Manchester Police have
published reports that describe the characteristics and circumstances of racist
crime and violence.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
• Publishes local and national reports with statistics on charges, prosecutions
and outcomes in cases, including cases involving racist or religious offences.
• From 2004, CPS intends to publish more comprehensive information about
prosecuted cases, including information about the ethnicity of offenders and
victims.
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