This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Hate crime victim backs appeal to report attack
A transsexual who was punched and knocked unconscious within moments of walking into a pub has spoken out in support of a campaign to highlight hate crime.
Giovanna Del Nord was hit in the head without warning by a stranger as she waited to be served in a pub in central Leicester in October.
The 46-year-old, who moved to the city last year, believes the man attacked her because she is undergoing sex change therapy.
She is a year into a four-and-a-half year course of therapy which will result in a sex change.
She spoke out yesterday at Leicestershire County Council's offices in Glenfield to support a campaign which encourages victims of hate crimes to come forward.
Stop and Tell is highlighting the plight of people who face abuse – physical, verbal or written – because of their race, religion, age, disability or sexuality. It is placing particular emphasis on crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Awareness-raising events including displays at libraries and council offices, school assemblies, roadshows and staff training are being held across Leicestershire.
Giovanna said: "I spoke because I wanted to let people know that they should tell the authorities about crimes committed against them.
"What happened to me has happened to many other people but they have never told anyone.
"It is important people who carry out hate crimes are brought to justice."
Between April, 2011, and March, 2012, 631 hate crimes were reported to Leicestershire Police – about 40 against gay people. Attacks on transsexuals were in single figures.
Councillor Joe Orson, cabinet member for safer communities, said: "Incidents of hate should not be tolerated and everyone who lives, works in or visits Leicestershire has the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to live without fear of hatred.
"We believe hate incidents are under-reported by people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered and we hope this campaign will go some way to demonstrate that help, support and advice is available."
Darren Goddard, Leicestershire Police's hate crime officer, urged people to contact the Hate Incident Monitoring Project (HIMP), which is monitoring the extent and nature of such crimes.
He said: "Sadly, incidents of hate often go underreported.
"HIMP is another way for people to report their experiences.
"Working with HIMP enables the police to better protect our communities and ensure those responsible are held to account."
Stop and Tell has been co-ordinated by the county, district and borough councils, Leicester LGBT Centre, police and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
Contact the Hate Incident Monitoring Project on 0116 305 8263 or visit the website below.
Alternatively, visit a council office or library, which are reporting centres for hate incidents.
In an emergency, call 999.
www.leics.gov.uk/reporthate
Pupils learn from mum's anti-bullying campaign
A mother whose daughter was murdered simply because she was dressed as a goth brought her campaign for an end to bullying to Leicestershire yesterday.
Sylvia Lancaster told a group of young people in Loughborough how her daughter, Sophie, was beaten unconscious in a park in Lancashire in August 2007.
Sophie later died of her injuries.
It later emerged the 20-year-old and her boyfriend had been picked out because they were dressed as goths.
Mrs Lancaster's charity, the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, visits schools, youth centres and prisons to tackle the problem of bullying and intolerance among young people.
The campaign, called Sophie – Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance, Everywhere – came to Loughborough's Limehurst Academy yesterday.
It is the first school in Leicestershire to use an educational pack produced by the charity.
Speaking after she had spent the afternoon with students at the Bridge Street school, Mrs Lancaster said: "After my daughter died I wanted to do something to help prevent anything like this ever happening again.
"The kids at Limehurst were fabulous. They didn't know who I was or what had happened to my daughter until I told them.
"I find young people respond to her story because they know it might have been them, their sister or the girl next door."
All secondary schools in the city and county now have packs, which include a film about Sophie's death and a game which encourages students to examine their preconceptions and prejudices about people who are different to them because of fashion, race, faith, sexuality or disability.
Darren Goddard, Leicestershire Police's hate crime officer, said: "Limehurst Academy does not have a problem with bullying, but I have said to schools that they don't have to have that problem to get involved in a campaign like this.
"It's a very simple message – just because someone doesn't look exactly like you, behave the same or even be able to do things you can do, it doesn't mean they are not a human being.
"It's a message the children can take with them away from school and out into the community."
Sheila Fisher, deputy head of the academy, said: "The message Sylvia brought to the school is very much one we teach every day, but for the students to hear it from someone who has had such a personal experience gave it more resonance."
Teachers from about 40 of city and county schoools attended Leicestershire Police headquarters in Enderby on Tuesday to meet Mrs Lancaster, who still lives in Lancashire, and to learn how to use the pack in their schools.
www.sophielancasterfoundation.com
