Sandwell Council has reaffirmed its zero tolerance approach to tackling LGBT+ hate crimes as part of its celebration of LGBT+ History Month.

While things may have improved in recent years, four in five anti-LGBT hate crimes and incidents still go unreported, with younger LGBT people particularly reluctant to go to the police.

Sandwell Council wants to use LGBT+ History Month to raise awareness, challenge perceptions and promote tolerance and respect. It has worked via the Safer Sandwell Partnership, which includes Sandwell Council, Sandwell Police and many other organisations, to raise awareness with local community organisations by supporting them with training on hate crime and helping them to identify and be able to effectively support victims

A hate crime is hostility against a person or a group of people where they have been targeted because of or their perceived:

• Race
• Faith
• Sexual Orientation
• Gender
• Disability
• Any other characteristic that is different to that of the perpetrator's or that which the perpetrator thinks is different

The council’s dedicated Hate Crime webpage at sandwell.gov.uk/hatecrime provides more information on what kind of crimes are hate crimes and what you can do to help victims of hate. Councillor Bob Piper, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for community safety said:

“We all have a responsibility to stand up against hate crime and support its victims. It is not just victims of hate crime who can report it; communities need to play their part too.

"By reporting it, we can stop hate crime together. We can create a safer borough without discrimination and show to the world that hatred and intolerance have no place here.”

You can pass on information about hate crime offenders by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. This is anonymous and you will not be asked for your personal details. Alternatively, you can report non-emergency incidents through the West Midlands Police website at west-midlands.police.uk.