Joint Training Against Hate Crimes for Civil Society Representatives and Law Enforcement
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About
This joint training for representatives of civil society and law enforcement aims to deepen co-operation between police and civil society organizations in Romania as part of ODIHR’s work to strengthen hate crime victim support.
Participants will examine practical elements of the police response to hate crime victims, including individual needs assessments and referral mechanisms, and examine measures to ensure the sensitive treatment of hate crime victims. These sessions will be supplemented by exercises to sensitize participants to the experiences of victimized groups and the challenges they face in their daily lives because of their identities.
Additionally, participants will identify barriers to cooperation between civil society organizations and the police. They will work together to develop strategies to overcome these barriers in line with the local context and the needs of communities victimized by hate crime.
Why is this important?
Effective cooperation between police and civil society is vital to providing specialist support services to hate crime victims. Needs assessments and referral mechanisms ensure that victims are directed to support services tailored to their needs, while sensitive and respectful treatment is key to preventing secondary victimization and improving victims’ experience of the justice criminal process.
Background
The workshop is organized as part of a joint initiative of ODIHR and the European Commission on Strengthening Targeted Assistance and Response Structures for Hate Crime Victims in the OSCE Region (STARS). The initiative is funded by the European Union through the “Support to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) for knowledge sharing and standard setting on hate crime including hate crime victim support” (CERV-2023-IM-CRAC/RIGH/2), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.