Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington is hosting a workshop on stopping and preventing hate crimes.
CSGW Program Coordinator, Sarah Bowers-Peter, says the No Room for Hate workshop will not only look at ways to stop hate crimes, it will also be about education. That includes drawing awareness to hate crimes in the area.
"In short, what we're looking to do is dispel the myth that hate crimes don't occur in rural centres. We know that's not the case. The has been hate motivated incidents, whether they're charged as hate crimes, there's certainly been hate-motivated incidents over the last number of years. There has also been an increase that our investigative partners have reported, obviously pre-pandemic and into present day," Bowers-Peter shared.
Bowers-Peter adds they want to dispel the myth that hate crimes only happen in big cities and not rural areas. They also want to educate people on what makes a hate crime different from other types of crimes.
"It has to have that substantiative factor within the investigation that there's more than just a random act of violence, or aggression, or mischief that has happened, it is actually a targeted, well executed and thorough act against a community. It could be something like damaging Pride flags, or it could be targeting LGBTQ2S+, or it could be a religious, ethnic, cultural origin or organization," explained Bowers-Peter.
The workshop will have a focus on youth and how they can be inspired to commit these crimes.
"Looking to target the youth culture. Why would a young person engage in hate crime activity? We know it can be perpetrated by people in any age demographic, we're not saying it's only youth, but we're gonna start there with that conversation. At the workshop we're gonna talk about what signs to look for, what could lead a young person to develop an interest or start following a hate-leaning organization," Bowers-Peter added.
With hate crimes becoming more prevalent in the region, Bowers-Peter notes that the workshop will include tools to help identify signs that someone may be becoming radicalized by extremist and hateful views.
"Information that anybody can take with them and share with others, but also use to evaluate people in their lives and say 'Hey, is there something going on with someone I care about, and is there a conversation we need to have to prevent this from turning into someone who might commit a hate crime?'" noted Bowers-Peter.
CSGW applied for and received funding from the Ministry of the Solicitor General to increase awareness of hate crimes in Wellington County.
“Arguably this could be one of the most important initiatives we’ve presented,” Bowers-Peter stated. “We are in a time when our society is very reactive, and we need to do all we can to come together. Safety and community can exist when we are united, and education is key to unity.”
CSGW is inviting local groups who represent gender-based, religious, ethnic and cultural organizations to participate in the workshop if they so desire.
The workshop will take place at Wellington County Museum and Archives from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 18. Preregistration is required and can be done through the “No Room For Hate” page on Eventbrite.ca. Tickets and identification are required for admission, which is free.
