North: Fall in homophobic crime reports hailed

The number of reported crimes against the gay and lesbian community in Derry have fallen over the past six months, police figures showed today.

In the six months from April 1 to September 30, there were 27 homophobic incidents reported to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

This compared with a figure of 37 for the same period in 2004.

Inspector Milton Kerr welcomed the reduction but stressed there could be no excuse for targeting individuals because of their perceived sexual orientation.

He explained: “One reason for the reduction may be that it is widely known within the city that there is a multi-agency protocol which is working, and that all the partners have signed up to a zero tolerance of these type of incidents.

“However, we cannot be complacent.

“The partners to the protocol are determined to continue to work together not only to support the victims, but also to educate the public that such incidents are wrong and the perpetrators should be shunned and brought to justice for their actions.”

David McCartney of the Rainbow Project, said the protocol, which was devised to heighten awareness of homophobia in the city, was developed against the backdrop of a rise in the number of incidents last year.

“Derry has received a lot of negative publicity on this issue, undeservedly branded ’the homophobic capital of the north’ due to sharp increases in the number of incidents,” he said.

“However it should be noted that those increases were the result of a concerted effort by those involved in the partnership protocol to improve reporting.

“This city is far from being a centre for homophobia, it is actually one area where valuable efforts are being made in quantifying and dealing with this type of hate crime.

“Given the reductions over the past six months, it is our hope that this is finally demonstrating a positive dividend for the gay community.

“There is still a long way to go, but at least we are on the move, this approach needs to adopted and rolled out across the country.”

A spokeswoman for Foyle Women’s Aid said the protocols seemed to have helped in getting a local message across that violence, both domestic and homophobic, was unacceptable.

Derry City Council’s Community Safety Partnership, which works with a number of public, statutory, community and voluntary organisations on a number of initiatives to reduce crime, fear of crime and anti-social behaviour, also welcomed the reduction.