§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list those police services in England which monitor and record incidents of homophobic crime; [39204]
(2) what estimate he has made of the under-reporting of homophobic crime; [39206]
(3) if he will list by police authority and by category of offence, the types of offences reported or recorded as homophobic crime; [39213]
(4) if he will list, by police authority, the number of homophobic incidents recorded in each of the last five years. [39205]
§ Mr. MichaelFrom the information collected centrally, it is not possible to determine offences or incidents of homophobic crime which, like a number of other identifiable categories such as domestic violence or 637W violence between neighbours, cut across different categories of offence depending on the seriousness of the event or the nature of the evidence. Whilst the Home Office collects statistics on the number of recorded offences of, for example, violence against the person, indecent assault on a male, indecency between males and rape of a male, there is no way of identifying which offences within any offence type had a homophobic element. This makes it impossible to give a proper estimate concerning under-reporting.
In 1996, the Association of Chief Police Officers published a set of Good Practice Guidelines for Dealing with Homophobic Incidents. This included a definition of what should be regarded as a homophobic incident: "Any incident which appears to either the victim, investigating officer or any other person to be motivated by homophobia, that is, animosity towards lesbians and gay men". The guidelines also recommended that police forces should record and monitor such incidents.
A literature review has been conducted for the interdepartmental working group on vulnerable and intimidated witnesses; part of the report examined literature on hate crimes against sexual minorities. This report is being considered by Ministers.
There have been a few surveys published. For example, in a survey of gay men carried out in Lewisham as part of the Lewisham Safer Cities project in 1992, the vast majority reported experience of verbal abuse (81 per cent.) and approaching half reported being physically attacked. Property offences were less commonly reported.
Stonewall, the pressure group which campaigns for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, has also carried out a nation-wide survey. Key findings included:
three quarters reported experiencing verbal abuse on at least one occasion;over a third of men and a quarter of women reported experiencing violence in the last five years because of their sexuality;some groups, such as black, Asian, disabled and young respondents had greater risk of victimisation.Both studies found repeat victimisation was common. They provide useful information, although it must be acknowledged that they may not provide a representative sample.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to increase the confidence of homosexual people in reporting crimes against them to the police. [39207]
§ Mr. MichaelThe reluctance of homosexual people to report crimes committed against them was one of the issues raised in the report of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's thematic inspection into police community and race relations published last October. The report recommended that forces should establish policies and strategies for the policing of incidents and crimes against the gay community, acknowledging their vulnerability as a minority group, and establish systems and practices to deal effectively with homophobic attacks including monitoring arrangements. Her Majesty's Inspectorate will be looking at what forces have done to implement the report during their programme of force inspections.
638WThe Association of Chief Police Officers has published good practice guidelines which aim to ensure that effective means are in place to monitor, detect and prevent such incidents.
Consultation with gay and lesbian groups is recognised as an important means by which police officers can gain an understanding of the problems and issues that exist for lesbians and gay men, thereby engendering trust between that community and the police. The crime audits which the police and local agencies will be obliged to carry out under the Crime and Disorder Bill proposals will provide the means to get gay and lesbian issues onto the community safety agenda. The extensive guidance which will accompany the legislation will include references to the importance of involving these groups in this process.