Preventing Racist Violence - Runnymede Trust

Executive SummaryRacist violence remains a seriousproblem within the UK. All violence is amatter of concern. Violence that alsodenies the humanity of its subjects,destroys relationships betweencommunities, and corrupts our ability tofunction together as a society is a causefor even greater concern. Last year overfour thousand cases came before ourcourts that were deemed to have a racistmotivation. This is likely to be the tip ofthe iceberg. Activities designed tochallenge this trend are the subject ofthis research report.Two years of research on projects thattake on the challenge of preventing racistviolence have provided us with someinsight into what needs to be done toreduce racist violence. Therecommendations of the reportencapsulate where we think schemes totackle racist violence should be goingand the kind of policy reform that will benecessary to make effective changehappen.Current work to challenge attitudes toprevent racist violence is surprisinglyscarce given the scale of the problem.Rather than finding, as we hadanticipated, an existing network ofactivities directed towards a single aim,we found many layers of endeavour,with varying degrees of connectednessand success. While many sectors ofpractice and policy are, directly orindirectly, involved with tackling racistviolence and harassment throughchanging the perpetrators’ attitudes, theirefforts are not being maximised orwidely shared.The recommendations contained inthis report address action that should betaken by central government, localauthorities, practitioners (across a rangeof sectors, including those working withthe community cohesion and crimereduction agendas), the researchcommunity and funders. Some representthe thinking and conclusions that arisefrom the practices we have examined;others express the thoughts and wishesof practitioners whose work in thesefields is widely respected for all the rightreasons. Some are drawn from examplesof good practice encountered in thecourse of the research; others reflect thelessons that should be learnt and thechallenges faced by groups andindividuals trying to tackle racistviolence through work with potentialperpetrators. All, we think, are crucial inraising the profile, effectiveness andsuccess of this work.Government policy must also be toughon the causes of racist crime• Crucial to the success of tacklingracist crime is the need for strongleadership from central governmentto focus on a preventative approach.Punitive measures are certainlyimportant for dealing withperpetrators of racist violence. Thesemust be allied with preventative workwith potential perpetrators. (R2, R3+pp.23,25) 1Good crime prevention includesprevention of racist crimeMainstream crime preventionprogrammes that work with potentialperpetrators do exist, but too often theyfail to address racist attitudes andviolence.• Crime prevention programmes shouldbe encouraged to examine how theycan successfully impact on preventingracist violence. (R4+p.25)• Crime reduction legislation and policy(including anti-social behaviourstrategy) needs to assess its impacton reducing or preventing racistviolence, and tackling racism andracial harassment. (R5, R6+p.25)1 Page numbered crossreferencestake you to therelevant section of the MainFindings text and to the tabularsummary of Recommendationsin the Appendix (numbered R1to R28).Executive Summary1