As the nation responds to racist abuse suffered by three of England’s footballers, analysis of the latest figures reveals how racial hate crimes increased in Bedfordshire in the four years leading up to the coronavirus pandemic.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all suffered racist abuse online after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final loss to Italy on Sunday night.
The comments sparked a police investigation and widespread condemnation, including from England manager Gareth Southgate, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince William.
Charity Victim Support said it was “appalled” by the abuse, and added it followed an increase in reported racial hate crimes nationwide during the pandemic.
Home Office data shows a record number of racial hate crimes were recorded by police forces in England and Wales in 2019-2020 – the latest figures available.
Bedfordshire Police recorded 963 crimes during the period, an 88% increase from 2015-16 when 513 incidents were reported.
Police in England and Wales recorded 76,070 racial hate crimes in 2019-2020 – the equivalent of over 200 per day, and the highest number since comparable records began in 2011-12.
The figure, which did not include Greater Manchester Police data, was an increase of 6% from 72,041 in 2018-19, and two-thirds from 2015-16, when 45,440 were reported .
The increase is in part due to improvements in registration and awareness of hate crimes, the Home Office said.
He also said events such as the EU referendum in 2016 and the terrorist attacks in 2017 would likely have had an impact.
But Victim Support said other factors, such as the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in America last year, led to a further increase in reports.
The association said it was “extremely saddened and dismayed” by the abuse suffered by the three England football players after Sunday’s game.
Jo Parks, Director of Services, said: “We have been concerned about the increase in reports of racial hate crimes throughout the pandemic and have seen a significant increase in the number of victims seeking our help.
“These hate crimes have negatively impacted the safety and self-esteem of victims, which can take years to rebuild.”
Following the racist abuse of England footballers, Home Secretary Priti Patel is now urging social media companies to take tougher action against racism ahead.
She said: “Racist abuse is completely unacceptable and illegal whether it takes place online or offline – people who commit racist offenses should rightly face the full force of the law.”
The incident also saw a new wave of support for model Katie Price’s online petition aimed at making it harder for online trolls to remain anonymous.
The petition – which now has more than 660,000 signatures – wants to ensure that anyone opening a new social media account is legally required to provide verified identification.
By around 11 a.m. (Wednesday), 66,061 people from across eastern England had lent their names to the petition.
It was started following abuse against Ms Price’s son, Harvey.
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Source: www.bedfordtoday.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-14 11:50:21
