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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 24 July 2009

Fighting hate crime

• I WAS very concerned to see figures from the Metropolitan Police on July 16 showing a significant increase in homophobic crime across London.
Some boroughs, including Westminster, show a drop in the number of such incidents, but the overall rate remains alarmingly high.
Homophobic crime has fallen 16.8 per cent in Westminster, from
113 incidents in 2007-08 to 94 in the year to June, but this is still the highest number of offences in any London borough.
While these new figures may indicate that more people are reporting crimes to the police, other estimates suggest that three-quarters of homophobic hate crimes still go unreported, and that two-thirds of those who did report incidents found they were not offered or referred to advice or support services.
These new figures should prompt renewed action right across London to tackle these disturbing crimes.
Lesbian and gay people, as well as heterosexuals, must be encouraged to report any incidents of homophobic hate crime. More also needs to be done in schools to educate young people and eradicate homophobic bullying. And the police should be making every effort to investigate all hate crimes reported to them.
Jean Lambert MEP
Green Party, London

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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