EQUALITY BULLETIN – ISSUE ELEVEN: OCTOBER 2006 News & views from Glasgow’s Equality Forums and Glasgow City Council CONTENTS + (01) Tackling Homophobic Graffiti: it’s our city, play your part + (02) Good Practice Guidelines: for workers supporting women who are living with an abusive partner + (03) Strathclyde Police Diversity Unit + (04) Wiltshire Police Vulnerable Adults Unit + (05) Safety In Numbers: Glasgow’s LGBT Community Safety Forum Film + (06) The Commission for Equality and Human Rights + (07) Creating Safe Communities: tackling hate crime against disabled people + (08) Community Safety Forum for People with Learning Difficulties: Dont Give Fire A Chance + (09) Integration Through Safety: ITS Glasgow + (10) Nae Danger: a resource pack for young people + (11) Violence Against Deaf Women + (12) MARIM: Multi Agency Racial Incident Monitoring + (13) Back page: Glasgow’s Equality Networks; Aims And Submission Details; Formats; E-Newsletters; Contact Details; Disclaimer + (01) TACKLING HOMOPHOBIC GRAFFITI: IT’S OUR CITY, PLAY YOUR PART The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community Safety Forum in association with Glasgow City Council’s Environmental Protection Services are tackling homophobic graffiti in Glasgow. An integral part of this process is the introduction of a recording system for reports of homophobic graffiti. The introduction of this system means that homophobic graffiti will be recorded alongside sectarian or racist graffiti. Ruth Black, co-chair of the LGBT Community Safety Forum and Manager of the LGBT Centre has welcomed this saying “homophobic graffiti can be very frightening to LGBT people in the city. It can have a very negative effect on people and leads to an increased sense of fear. We feel that this is a significant step forward for the LGBT community and for Glasgow’s image of a safe and welcoming city. This is also another shift towards equality for the LGBT community as this type of graffiti will now be monitored and dealt with in the same way as other offensive graffiti.” Anyone seeing homophobic graffiti can report it to the Council through its’ 24 hour free phone number which is 0800 027 7027. The Council aims to remove all personally offensive graffiti within 2 working days in comparison to the 20 day target for basic graffiti. The removal of all graffiti is an element of the Clean Glasgow Campaign which is Glasgow City Council’s initiative to combat graffiti, fly posting, fly tipping, litter and the illegal dumping of trade waste in order to improve the environment for all who live and work in the city. Ruth Black said “this is a major achievement for the LGBT Community Safety Forum and it is now up to the LGBT community in Glasgow to play their part and report any graffiti, not just homophobic. We all have a part to play in making Glasgow clean, safe and welcoming for all”. If you would like to find out more about the LGBT Community Safety Forum then contact Jim Dunsmore on 287 6813 or email jim.dunsmore@drs.glasgow.gov.uk EXTRA: Photograph From Warsaw Pride 2006: Image taken by Jim Torr, 2006 www.flickr.com/photos/jamestorr/ During the last couple of years some European cities have witnessed significant and violent counter-demonstrations and attacks on LGBT Pride Marches. This image was taken at Warsaw Pride March this year - which thankfully did not suffer the scale of demonstrations and attacks that have been seen elsewhere. See ILGA-Europe website for more details www.ilga-europe.org + (02) GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES: FOR WORKERS SUPPORTING WOMEN WHO ARE LIVING WITH AN ABUSIVE PARTNER In 2002, as part of Glasgow Violence Against Women Partnership’s improving practice agenda, a working group of the Partnership was established to look at the issue of improving agency responses to women who have experienced gender based violence. One of the initiatives undertaken by the Improving Practice Working Group was a series of information seminars which looked at a range of gender violence issues, including domestic abuse. Evaluations of these seminars, as well as anecdotal evidence gathered during the events, showed us that workers found it difficult to respond to women who were still living with an abusive partner. Workers reported feelings of helplessness, frustration or inability to understand what kind of support would be possible for a woman who would not leave her abuser. One response from the Improving Practice Working Group was to produce Good Practice Guidelines - that could be widely distributed to frontline workers and give a clear message that women could be supported while living with an abuser and through the process of leaving, no matter how long that process would take. The Guidelines also look at the issue of women’s safety during this period, at how much risk the woman is in while she is still living with the abuser, and how a process of safety planning can be undertaken with the woman. We are very aware of the danger women face while living with domestic abuse and while trying to leave an abusive partner. In the UK, a woman is murdered every three days by her partner or ex-partner and the most dangerous time for a woman and her children is at that point of leaving. In the Guidelines we clearly state that … ‘In all the work we do we must ensure that the safety of women and children is at the core of all responses and must remember that in most cases, where children are at risk, the best form of child protection is often protecting the woman and increasing her capacity to keep her children safe.’ During this time the Improving Practice Working Group itself evolved and took over the task of driving forward the Scottish Executive’s National Training Strategy on Domestic Abuse. Work on the development of the Good Practice Guidelines was ongoing and fitted well into the remit of the new Greater Glasgow Training Consortium. It was intended that the Guidelines would be a useful tool that would complement basic awareness training on domestic abuse, and, as the Training Consortium area extended beyond Glasgow to East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire, it meant that there would be a much wider audience for the document. So far it sounds as thought the Guidelines were easy to write, but anyone who has written a document which has had input from a number of groups, and which has been consulted upon widely, will know – it was a saga! The Training Consortium is also working on another resource that will further complement its training work and the Good Practice Guidelines – a CD giving basic legal information for workers who are supporting women who have, or are experiencing domestic abuse. Although this CD does not equip workers to give legal advice, it will give basic information and help direct women to appropriate and more specialised help. The CD has been written by Castlemilk Law Centre with input from Strathclyde Police. The Greater Glasgow Training Consortium officially launched both the Good Practice Guidelines and the Legal CD at an event on 28th September 2006 in Glasgow. For more information contact Caterina O’Connor, Greater Glasgow Training Consortium, 5th Floor, 30 Bell Street, Glasgow G1 1LG Tel. 07852 962 443 + (03) STRATHCLYDE POLICE DIVERSITY UNIT The Diversity Unit, based at Strathclyde Police Headquarters, provides guidance and support to staff and develops policy in relation to all areas of diversity for the Force, including race, religious belief, disability, age, gender, and sexual orientation. The Unit works on many varied tasks, but the following are short examples of some of the current areas of work: Disability Equality Scheme: Having produced the Race Equality Scheme for the Force in November 2005, the department is now working towards publishing our Disability Equality Scheme, in December 2006. This Scheme will be a public statement of the Force’s commitment to ensuring equality for everyone with a disability that uses our services, both staff and public alike. It will also contain an action plan detailing how we will further improve our service over the next three years. The most important aspect of producing this Scheme is to find out exactly what issues are affecting the disabled community in terms of accessing and using Police services. To ensure we get the best possible information, we are contacting individuals, groups, carers and representatives of disabled groups to arrange focus groups and seminars where their views can be established. By this method, we will be able to write a Scheme based on what the disabled community wants from us, and not what we think they want from us. Community Advisor Group: Strathclyde Police has for some time recognised the benefits of using community advice to inform Police operations and policies. Currently there are 18 Community Advisors who have been recruited to provide advice in a variety of arenas. Their expertise covers the following areas: Middle Eastern Communities, Pakistani, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jewish, Hindu, Indian, LGBT, Chinese, Gypsy & Travelling Communities, Disability The importance of this group cannot be under-estimated as close consultation with all our communities enables us to further develop an appropriate and professional Police Service. We have an ongoing recruitment campaign to allow us to develop the range of expertise currently addressed by the group, and have recently recruited a number of advisors with disabilities, and a LGBT advisor. Remote Reporting: This is a scheme that allows people to report racist and homophobic incidents without having direct contact with a Police Officer. On occasions, and for a variety of reasons, people may not wish to speak directly with the Police, but still want to report such incidents in order that issues can be investigated. A number of community organisations across the Strathclyde area have staff trained to take reports from victims. They will then forward the reports confidentially to the Police for investigation. A list of reporting centres can be found on the Force website at www.strathclyde.police.uk A review of this system is currently underway, and it is hoped that further reporting centres will be available shortly. The use of this system for incidents involving people with disabilities is also being examined. For further information go to www.strathclyde.police.uk To feed in your views to the Disability Equality Scheme or for any other enquiry please email us at DES@strathclyde.pnn.police.uk, or telephone on 0141 532 2002 + (04) WILTSHIRE POLICE VULNERABLE ADULTS UNIT At the International Women’s Police Conference in Leeds last year, DC Steve Lever presented the work of Wiltshire Police’s Vulnerable Adults Unit. In Wiltshire, the agencies signed up to the mandatory reporting of suspected abuse of vulnerable adults include Police NHS Trusts and services Local Authorities and their services Crown Prosecution service National Probation Service Age Concern Citizens’ Advice Bureaux National Care Standards Commission Private Sector housing associations Dept of Work & Pensions Dept of Welfare Benefit Agencies Wiltshire & Swindon Users’ Network and other voluntary sector organisations All services (Health, Social Work etc) know that if they have any concerns of abuse, they must refer to the police. Staff of all the agencies involved have a duty to report all concerns of abuse, without necessarily having any evidence of it. In Wiltshire this means that, for example, a nurse to whom the first disclosure of abuse is made will respond by making it clear that “you’re not just telling me, you’re telling my agency who will inform the police. I must refer it, but nothing will happen that you don’t wish to happen”. In 4 years there have been 2000 referrals of vulnerable adult abuse, resulting in 850 joint investigations by the police and caring services. Only 5% of these have led to prosecutions: the priority is to prevent or detect abuse. 43% of the investigations are of learning disabled adults abusing or assaulting other learning disabled adults. DC Lever and his colleagues deal with abuse of: Elderly people by elderly people Elderly people by staff Learning disabled people by learning disabled people Learning disabled people by staff Vulnerable Adults by family. The approach they take is based on the ‘Speak Up for Justice’ Report 1998 and the ‘No Secrets’ Report 2000, which defined a Vulnerable adult as: aged 18 years or over who may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness, and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation. Definition: Vulnerable Adult Abuse: Wiltshire Police and its partner agencies define Vulnerable Adult Abuse as including one or more of the following: Sexual abuse – including rape and sexual assault, contact or non-contact sexual acts to which the Vulnerable Adult has not consented, or could not consent or was pressurised into consenting. Psychological abuse – including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact or communication, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, isolation or withdrawal from services or supportive networks. Financial or material abuse – including theft, fraud, exploitation, and pressure in connection with wills, property or inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits. Neglect or acts of omission – including ignoring medical or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, social care or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating. Physical abuse – including hitting, slapping, pushing, kicking, misuse of medication, inappropriate restraint or inappropriate sanctions. Institutional abuse – indicated by repeated instances of unsatisfactory professional practice, pervasive ill treatment or gross misconduct indicating an abusive climate. Discriminatory abuse – including that based on a person’s ethnic origin, religion, language, age, sexual orientation, gender, disability, and other forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment. + (05) SAFETY IN NUMBERS: GLASGOW’S LGBT COMMUNITY SAFETY FORUM FILM Glasgow’s LGBT Community Safety Forum launched their new DVD at the Glasgow Film Theatre at the end of October this year. The 20 minute film aims to raise awareness about the issues faced by Glasgow’s LGBT community and to encourage more people to take an active role in making Glasgow a safe place to live, work and play for everyone. “There are 58,000 LGBT people living in Glasgow,” says Ruth Black from the Forum. “Not all of them are out, and their safety often has a lot to do with them not coming out.” Recent research indicates that LGBT people experience 5 times more violent incidents than heterosexual people. The film, ‘Safety in Numbers’, includes first hand accounts from LGBT people of bullying at school, intimidation and violence on public transport and in the street, and even harassment from neighbours. Representatives from the council and police describe in the film what they are doing to make their services more responsive to the needs of the LGBT community. Inspector Dean Pennington from Strathclyde Police’s Diversity Unit acknowledges that it is often very difficult for LGBT people to report homophobic and transphobic incidents to the police, and describes some of the solutions now on offer to the community such as third party reporting, which are proving successful. The film has been made in collaboration with students from the Digital Art & Design course at Central College, directed by filmmaker and lecturer, Dianne Barry. Before filming began a team of trainers from the LGBT Centre led a training course with the students in transphobia and homophobia. “The training gave the students a valuable insight into the issues they were going to be filming,” says Dianne. “This was as essential to the documentary process as training in using the cameras and other equipment.” The students agree that their involvement in the film has been a wonderful opportunity to use their talents and gain experience working to a professional standard. For more information contact the Glasgow LGBT Centre on 0141 221 7203 + (06) THE COMMISSION FOR EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS - promoting good relations, equality, diversity and human rights Equality, diversity, and respect for the human rights and dignity of every man, woman and child are core values that define our lives in Britain. Equality is not a minority concern – it matters to every one of us. At some point in our lives, all of us face barriers that may prevent us fulfilling our potential, or participating fully in society. The new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) will champion equality, diversity, and human rights as defining values of our society, encouraging all our institutions to operate for the benefit of every individual. The CEHR will provide coherent, accessible advice and support for individuals on all discrimination issues and human rights. It will provide business with accurate, joined up advice and information in one place on all equality and discrimination issues. It will work to make public services responsive to diverse needs, in line with the standards of the Human Rights Act. It will use its enforcement powers to tackle persistent discrimination, and will work for the whole person by tackling multiple causes of discrimination and disadvantage. The Commission’s extensive powers and duties allow it to operate both generically and specifically as appropriate. It could, for example, seek to address inequalities in the provision of health care across the board while maintaining a focus on hate-crimes that are targeted at race, religion or belief, and sexuality. Recognising that isolation, misunderstanding, fear, intimidation and segregation can be crucial elements of inequality or unjust treatment, the Commission’s brief extends beyond tackling discrimination, to demonstrating and sharing best practice and promoting equality and human rights principles in public and private bodies. Using these principles, it will also seek to address tensions and promote good relations between individuals and between and within groups in their local communities. The fundamental objective of the Commission, as summarised in the Equality Act, is to support the development of a society where: · There is respect for the dignity and worth of every individual; · There is respect for and protection of each individual’s human rights; · People’s ability to achieve their potential is not limited by prejudice or discrimination; · Every individual has an equal opportunity to participate in society; and · There is mutual respect between groups based on understanding and valuing diversity and on shared respect for equality and human rights. The CEHR Transition Team under the auspices of the DTI, DCA, Home Office and DWP is implementing the establishment of the CEHR. The Transition Team held a number of stakeholder events in Scotland during June and July this year, where they were able to hear views on what the CEHR’s priorities should be and how best to operate in Scotland. Contact: CEHR Programme in Scotland Coordinator, Rosemarie McIlwhan at rosemarie.mcilwhan@cehr.org.uk Further information on the CEHR and the transition programme is available at www.cehr.org.uk + (07) CREATING SAFE COMMUNITIES: TACKLING HATE CRIME AGAINST DISABLED PEOPLE Feeling and being unsafe or unwelcome – from shunning or rejection to violence and harassment – affects everyone’s health and sense of wellbeing. It also has significant impacts on their ability to participate both socially and economically in their communities. Safety and security, and the right to live free from fear and harassment, are at the core of disabled people’s priorities. To achieve equal citizenship, the disproportionate rates of violence, harassment, bullying, rejection and the fear experienced by disabled people of all ages must be systematically addressed. Disabled people must have strong levels of trust in those institutions and systems which protect us from crime, harassment and bullying. Disabled people must also feel a strong sense that justice is on their side, and that their experiences are taken seriously and acted upon. All public bodies must therefore adopt a proactive stance to tackling such harassment and promoting community safety and cohesion. Research by the DRC and Capability Scotland found that hate crime against disabled people was prevalent across Scotland. The research found that: one in five disabled Scots have experienced harassment because of their disability, and over a third (35 per cent) of people who know someone who is disabled have witnessed that person being harassed. There appeared to be a greater proportion of attacks against people with mental health problems, learning difficulties and visual impairments. Hate crimes are most likely to occur in public places, such as in the street or park, in shops or on public transport. Strangers were most likely to carry out the attacks. Three quarters of disabled people who have experienced hate crimes have made significant changes to their lives to avoid further fear or attack. 47 per cent now avoid going to certain places and 38 per cent reported they had changed their routines. 25 per cent said they had to move from their home. The National Schizophrenic Fellowship (Scotland) reports that 41 per cent of people with mental health problems have experienced harassment compared with 15 per cent of the general population. There is strong support in Scotland for the establishment of legislation outlawing hate crimes against disabled people. The DRC’s Scottish Awareness Survey 2004 found 84 per cent of the Scottish general public thought that a law to protect disabled people against hate crimes would be effective in preventing the harassment of disabled people, and 85 per cent felt a sustained campaign to tackle prejudice which some people in society have towards disabled people would also be effective. An expert working group established by the Scottish Executive also recommended in 2004 that the law should be changed. Disabled women, and disabled people from LGBT or ethnic minority communities may face additional fears or harassment. The critical questions we need to discuss are: - How can we best secure disabled people’s safety in the community? - How can we ensure disabled people feel confident that the criminal justice system is on their side? - What sort of legislation do we need in Scotland to counter hate crime against disabled people? The DRC has launched the Disability Debate across Britain to look at developing a programme of action for disabled people with 10 priorities for change, including creating safe communities and tackling hate crime. For further information, go to www.disabilitydebate.org Contact details: The DRC Helpline is the first point of contact for all enquiries. You can contact the DRC Helpline by phone, fax, by post, or by using one of our mailforms. Telephone: 08457 622 633 Textphone: 08457 622 644 You can speak to an operator at any time between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday) Fax: 08457 778 878 Post: DRC Helpline, FREEPOST ID02164, Stratford upon Avon CV37 9BR. Go to http://www.drc-gb.org/contact_us.aspx for email forms and to book a videophone. + (08) COMMUNITY SAFETY FORUM FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES: “DONT GIVE FIRE A CHANCE” On Friday the 2nd June the Community Safety Forum for People with Learning Difficulties in partnership with Strathclyde Fire & Rescue held a day at Castlemilk Fire Station to promote home fire safety amongst the learning disability community and their carers. Approximately 30 people from the south side of the city attended the event. There were three workshops and each workshop ran three times during the day - this meant that everyone had the opportunity to go to all three workshops. The workshops were: Safety in the Home: how to avoid fires in your home. Covering issues such as: which rooms are fires most likely to start and what you can do to avoid them. Fire Action Plan: how to create a fire escape plan. Communication: what to do in the event of having to phone Fire & Rescue. As part of this workshop people were encouraged to arrange home fire safety visits. Elizabeth Walsh, Chair of the Community Safety Forum said “Through our work at the Community Safety Forum we understand just how important safety issues are to people with learning difficulties. We were delighted that the fire and rescue service were so responsive to the needs of our community, they put such a lot of hard work in to make the day a big success. The Fire and Rescue service gave people with learning difficulties with the information that they needed in a really clear and enjoyable way.” A representative from Strathclyde Fire & Rescue added, “Local and national fire statistics provide us with evidence that the majority of fire deaths and serious injury from fire occurs to residents within the domestic environment. Currently, fire-fighters are developing their role to meet the demands of the community by becoming more proactive in preventing fires.” This day was seen by the Community Safety Forum and Strathclyde Fire & Rescue as a pilot with the hope that it can be extended to the other parts of the city. For further information about the Community Safety Forum for People with Learning Difficulties contact: Jim Dunsmore, Community Services, DRS, Glasgow City Council, Nye Bevan House 2, 20 India Street, Glasgow G2 4PF Tel: 0141 287 6813 Email: jim.dunsmore@drs.glasgow.gov.uk Strathclyde Fire & Rescue have recently launched their new campaign which involves creating a safer community by raising awareness of fire and other safety related matters, carrying out HOME FIRE SAFETY VISITS, particularly to the most vulnerable members of our community. Home Fire Safety Visits: You can arrange for someone from Fire & Rescue to visit you in your home. They can provide you with any or all of the following services: - Carry out a FREE fire safety check of your home - Provide and install free smoke alarms (if required) - Provide FREE fire safety advice and information FREEPHONE 0800 0731 999 OR CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FIRE STATION + (09) INTEGRATION THROUGH SAFETY: ITS GLASGOW The Integration Through Safety (ITS) programme was designed to address home and fire safety issues and to help integrate Refugee/Asylum Seekers and Black and Minority Ethnics into the community. Both Fire Service personnel and Health Visitors had highlighted safety problems affecting some members of the new communities e.g. fire alarm procedures not being followed properly leading to large numbers of people blocking stairwells and preventing access by the Fire Service; children being left home alone; burns caused by being unfamiliar with some cooking and heating appliances. To enable us to address the home and fire safety issues and help to integrate new residents, a multi-agency Steering Group was established. The ITS Glasgow Project Steering Group has representation from Strathclyde Fire & Rescue; Glasgow City Council; Greater Glasgow NHS; Glasgow Housing Association; Scottish Refugee Council; Strathclyde Police. Our objectives were to raise awareness of home and fire safety; reduce fire related damage costs; reduce fire calls; assist operational firefighting crews; reduce injuries sustained within the home and thereby costs to Greater Glasgow NHS; alleviate previous fears and work to inspire confidence; assist in bringing communities together. The Integration Through Safety Approach: consultations We launched with two consultation events in the North and in the South of the city. These were multi-agency events. In the morning sessions we introduced the Project and there were speeches from the representative organisations. In the afternoon there was an “open” event for workers and asylum seekers to visit stalls of agencies involved and to hear/learn more about the project. These launches were also an opportunity for Asylum Seekers/Refugees/workers to also raise any issues they had re safety. poster / flyer campaign To try to address the issue of children being left home alone, a poster/flyer campaign was launched which involved local school children being invited to design a suitable poster. The winning entry was then produced and distributed widely across the city. building a bridge Through the auspices of the Healthy Cities “Building A Bridge” programme, a member of the asylum seeker/refugee community (Richard Darko) was seconded into the Community Safety department of the Fire Service. Richard assisted with the establishing of several focus groups of new community members across the city. It was from these groups that information was obtained as to the level of knowledge they had with regard to dangers faced within the home, the ascertaining of their own fears/issues and information on how best they could be educated in avoiding such safety issues. This stage culminated in the production of a “Research Report”. Attempts were also made to identify possible “peer educators” who would be willing to be trained/educated in home and fire safety issues and, in turn, pass this education on to their peers. TESOL tutors One of the avenues to enable us to get the information across was to utilise the offices of TESOL tutors (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). To this end, a training pack was put together with input from both the Council’s Home Safety Department and the Fire Service’s Community Safety Department. TESOL tutors will receive training on home and fire safety issues and provided with these education packs which they can utilise when giving lessons to asylum seekers/refugees. local personnel visits Operational fire crews and home safety personnel will visit “drop-in” centres throughout the city principally to introduce themselves, integrate with people and to give any advice/information requested. production of safety DVD One of the main points arising from the earlier research work and from the focus groups was that written material is not very useful to the majority of asylum seekers/refugees. When asked how they would like us to give them information/education, they preferred it to be “visual”, “hands-on”. To this end a DVD depicting home and fire safety scenarios (how they happen and how to avoid them) has been produced. This will be distributed widely throughout the City. As there is very little spoken word and the messages are given over by actors in a very visual manner, interest has also been shown in this DVD by other groups, e.g. people with learning difficulties, people with hearing impairments, etc. The production of this DVD also boosted integration as some of the actors were asylum seekers/refugees themselves and they have built up, not only their own confidence, but also their trust in uniformed services. home risk assessments A pilot project was initiated in the Springburn area of Glasgow. Initially Health Visitors were given training in what to look out for in respect of home and fire safety hazards. If they felt it was necessary, they would refer clients either to the Fire Service for a home fire safety visit or to the Council’s Home Safety Service for the provision and installation of home safety and security equipment. Cultural Awareness training was also given to home and fire safety personnel to provide them with knowledge in respect of background, culture, etc of asylum seekers/refugees. This training assisted visiting personnel to integrate with members of the new communities. safety education centre visits As another means of education, a pilot initiative will run in the Greater Pollok area of the city. Peer educators will be identified from within the asylum seeker/refugee communities and they will be given training to enable them to teach home and fire safety to groups of their peers – in a “hands-on”, experiential way – in their own language. Contact: David Radford or Collette Corry, Community Services, DRS, Glasgow City Council Tel: 0141 287 9141 Fax: 0141 287 6996 Email: collette.corry@drs.glasgow.gov.uk + (10) NAE DANGER: A RESOURCE PACK FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Barnardos Scotland have produced Nae Danger an animated film and resource pack made by young people in FACE [Fighting Against Child Exploitation], part funded by Scottish Executive. The purpose of the Nae Danger resource is to raise awareness of sexual exploitation, risk and keeping safe and highlights the dangers all young people potentially face. The pack focuses on risk and personal safety and covers issues such as internet safety, grooming and how young people can develop safety strategies in order to keep themselves and their friends safe. The pack is made up of an animated film on DVD as well as a large selection of board games, games and activity sheets including wordsearches, codebreakers, storyboards and question sheets all made by young people. The resource has been piloted in Dundee and Fife schools with S2 and S3 pupils with rave reviews. During the Nae Danger pilot these strengths have been outlined Nae Danger Strengths: - Young people enjoy it and relate to it because it has been made by other young people - The variety of materials included in the pack means that you could potentially use them over a long period of time - The quality of the materials was excellent and would mean that they would last - The pack focuses on risk and personal safety as well as focussing on sexual exploitation therefore could be used to highlight other risks and other elements of a personal safety programme - The pack could also be used and would be highly relevant in a Community Education setting and could be delivered by youth workers. Testimonials and quotes from young people involved in the pilot: ‘It makes people want to watch it rather than being a boring documentary’ ‘I liked the animation’ ‘It told us what to do if it happens to us’ ‘It gives a warning on what can happen’ ‘It was made by young people’ ‘I like the fact that it was from a child’s point of view’ ‘I think the film was very good and educational’ ‘I think the film was good, cause it helps me think about the things that keep me safe’ ‘I think the film was very good, cause I have never heard about sexual exploitation and now I know’ ‘It makes you more aware of danger’ Testimonials and Quotes from staff involved in the pilot: ‘I thought it clearly indicated the dangers without terrifying young people into thinking that every adult is a threat’ ‘Using animation was excellent as it appealed to the audience and really quickly highlighted the fact that there was an evil aspect to what was going on.’ ‘Plenty to keep a large class occupied for a number of weeks’ ‘The animation was excellent. It really had impact’ ‘Games were well produced, easy to understand and play’ ‘I was concerned that some pupils may find subject difficult/embarrassing but this was not the case’ ‘Stimulated discussion, raised awareness’ ‘Excellent film and materials’ Development: Our intent is that every young person of secondary school age in Scotland has the opportunity to work with the Nae Danger materials. The resource can be used in many settings for example within schools, alternative education, community groups, as training for foster carers and within Social work. Nae Danger can be used in both a group setting or on a one to one basis as a therapeutic tool. Every professional who works with young people could potentially use this resource. If you are interested in finding out more about Nae Danger or other resources that Barnardos have available then please contact Emma Preston on 01382 432931 [Other resources include Stay Ok, an animated DVD around Safe Touching suitable for Pre school and Primary school children and Being a Witness, an interactive CD Rom for young people who are faced with being a witness in court.] + (11) VIOLENCE AGAINST DEAF WOMEN Street Safety: It’s a well known fact that women are more likely to experience violence and abuse from someone they know, and often in their own homes. Much has been written lately about how women’s “fears” of street crime are unfounded and how these “fears” are not a real reflection of the types of violence they experience. Whilst this is all true, these arguments are often put in a way that can minimise or ignore women’s experiences and concerns about their sense of street safety. The fact is that 19% of women who used our service in the past 6 months have experienced street crime. Whilst this is much lower than women’s experiences of domestic abuse, rape and sexual assault it shouldn’t be dismissed. We also have to take into account that 54% of women do not actually go out on their own at certain times of the day. As women, it has been drummed into us from a very young age that we should go out in pairs, always have enough for bus / taxi fares, be in before it gets dark and to avoid certain areas. Women are forced to take responsibility for their own safety. Lets face it we can’t afford not too! It also has to be recognised that particular women are more vulnerable to discrimination, harassment and violence in the street than others. Black women, disabled, older, and women with learning difficulties often talk about street crime in addition to abuse and violence at home. Violence Against Deaf Women: It’s our work with women with double discriminations that has shaped Wise Women’s involvement with Deaf Women over the past 12 years. We have run several Personal Safety Courses within the Deaf Community which teach women skills for identifying, avoiding and escaping potentially dangerous situations in a variety of settings. By focussing on what women currently do, developing new strategies, offering support, awareness raising and challenging women blaming attitudes we build confidence and increase women’s options for making informed choices about their safety. Deaf women have welcomed accessing the Courses however a common complaint is that very little information is written in a format British Sign Language Users find clear and helpful. In addition to this very few services are Deaf Aware and even fewer have communication aides to allow Deaf Women to contact them. For this reason Wise Women and the Glasgow Partnership on Violence Against Women facilitated a consultation night with Deaf Women to discuss these issues. From here Wise Women set up The Deaf Women Against Violence Group to develop and produce a Violence Against Deaf Women Pack focussing on 6 key areas of violence and abuse. Violence Against Deaf Women Pack: The Pack is now complete and as well as raising awareness, blasting myths and challenging attitudes it offers women access to services throughout Glasgow that have Deaf aware staff, budgets for interpreters and minicoms. If you need any information about the pack, the Deaf Women’s Group or making your service more accessible to Deaf Women please contact Wise Women on 0141 550 7557 (voice) 0141-550-7558 (minicom) 07969 835 966 (sms) email : info@wisewomen.org.uk + (12) MARIM: MULTI AGENCY RACIAL INCIDENT MONITORING The Glasgow Multi Agency Racial Incidents Monitoring Group (MARIM) has been in existence since 1987. A central steering group comprises representatives of a number of city-wide organisations including the Police, the City Council, the Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance, GHA, the Procurator Fiscal, Victim Support and others. main objectives - to examine racial incidents handled by member agencies with a view to identifying critical zones of time and location for incidents, so that positive measures could be adopted and training needs identified; - to examine the full extent of racial problems from all sources as opposed to retrospective examination of incidents reported to the police alone; - to increase the confidence of victims by establishing an effective reporting procedure which will bring incidents to the notice of all agencies; and to - to involve appropriate local agencies in attempts to combat racial prejudice, effecting changes in policy and practice where appropriate. There are also a number of local MARIM groups across the City whose remit includes taking appropriate measures to deal with individual cases of racism. challenges Unfortunately, it has been felt by many for some time now that MARIM needs to reinvigorate itself: that the purpose of the steering group was not clear enough, and that links with the local groups have been weak or even non-existent. Many partners have felt that the police have been too dominant in the partnership – however, reports to the group and leadership from other partners has been limited. Additionally, the lack of a city-wide reporting and monitoring system hinders the sharing of information. solutions In an effort to help deal with some of the above, last year, Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance, working with MARIM, appointed ODS consultants to: - examine how other multi–agency partnerships report, record and monitor racial incidents in their area; - consult with partner agencies in Glasgow on these matters; - draw up options for establishing a co-ordinated system for the reporting, recording and monitoring of racial incidents in Glasgow. ODS reported in Summer 2005 and their recommendations included that the MARIM group establishes clear new remits for the city wide group and for each local group. They suggested that the city wide policy group should: - bring together the statutory and voluntary sectors into an effective partnership which will identify and tackle racist incidents in Glasgow. - record the extent of racial incidents in Glasgow and monitor trends with the aim of influencing the policies of partners; - promote effective action and policy changes in member organisations and influence the policies of others; - promote the sharing of information about racial incidents amongst relevant organisations and standardise procedures amongst these organisations; - coordinate the work of local MARIM groups. It was also recommended that: - all organisations that are part of MARIM should use a standard reporting form when receiving reports of racist incidents. A version of this form could also be used as a ‘self reporting’ form. - MARIM should engage a member of staff who would be responsible for recording all the reported racist incidents in the city – and for undertaking training of staff in each reporting centre. - the MARIM steering group receives quarterly reports on the pattern and trends of racist incidents in a consistent framework. The main costs of implementing these recommendations would be the employment of a member of staff, the costs of setting up the IT to support the recording and monitoring of racist incidents, the cost of the reporting forms and the cost of re-launching the partnership. ODS suggested that these costs (estimated to be around £50,000 p.a.) be met in full either by the Council or by the Police – or by a combination of the two agencies. However, both Strathclyde Police and Glasgow City Council have said that they are unable to identify the £25,000 p.a. requested of each of them. The Steering Group tried an approach to the Scottish Executive Race Equality, Integration and Community Support Fund, but were unsuccessful. In their feedback, the Executive highlighted that, “it was noted that a number of the partner agencies listed in the funding bid had statutory obligations under the Race Relations Amendment Act, and that there was no mention of their commitment to the project by way of future funding or resources. The Executive was reluctant to provide funding for a project, which could be funded by the partner agencies.” A further approach to the City Council and Strathclyde Police is now planned. Jatin Haria, Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance, 30 Bell Street, Glasgow G1 1LG Tel: 0141 572 1140 Fax: 0141 572 1141 Email: mail@gara.org.uk Web: www.gara.org.uk + (13) BACK PAGE: GLASGOW’S EQUALITY NETWORKS; AIMS AND SUBMISSION DETAILS; FORMATS; E-NEWSLETTERS; CONTACT DETAILS; DISCLAIMER GLASGOW’S EQUALITY NETWORKS: Glasgow Women’s Voluntary Sector Network Contact: Lorna New Tel: 0141 550 7557 Email: lorna_wisewomen@hotmail.com Glasgow Black and Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Network Contact: Safia Ali Tel: 0141 429 4249 Email: safia@pdaglasgow.org.uk Glasgow Disability Alliance Contact: Tressa Burke Tel: 0141 556 7103 Email: tressaburke@gdaonline.co.uk The West of Scotland LGBT Forum Contact: Ruth Black Tel: 0141 221 7203 Email: ruth.glgbt@btconnect.com Contact: David Thomas Email: djrt113@btinternet.com AIMS AND SUBMISSION DETAILS The Equality Bulletin is produced on behalf of Glasgow’s Equality Network Forum. The Forum is made up of representatives from Glasgow’s four Equality Networks and from Glasgow City Council. The aim of the Bulletin is to raise awareness of Equality issues in Glasgow, and to support information-sharing and joint working between Glasgow’s Equality Networks and between the Equality Networks and Glasgow City Council. Each Equality Network will be responsible for agreeing its own input to the Bulletin. If you are interested in writing an article or having a particular issue covered in the Bulletin please take your suggestions along to your own Network meeting for their agreement. If you have any comments or ideas, or additional items, reports, news etc. that you feel the Bulletin should be publicising please contact us at the address below. FORMATS: The Equality Bulletin can be provided in large print, braille, on tape, and on computer disc. It can also be emailed to you as a text or as a PDF document. Please contact us at the address below for copies, or download your copy from the Equality Network Forum website at www.enf.org.uk E-NEWSLETTERS: EQUALITY UPDATES, FUNDING EXTRA and JOBS EXTRA e-newsletters: keep up-to-date by subscribing to these free weekly e-newsletters, simply email kate.henderson@gcvs.org.uk or subscribe online at www.enf.org.uk CONTACT DETAILS: Equality Bulletin GCVS, 11 Queens Crescent, Glasgow G4 9AS Tel: 0141 332 2444 Fax: 0141 332 0175 Email: kate.henderson@gcvs.org.uk Web: www.enf.org.uk DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Glasgow City Council or the Equality Network Forum The Equality Bulletin: funded by Glasgow City Council, produced by Equality Network Forum, printed by Printing Works