Workshops raise awareness of ‘mate crime’

Raising awareness of ‘mate crime’ is the aim of a series of workshops being held by the North Kent Independent Advocacy Scheme with help from Kent Police.

Mate crime is a type of hate crime where vulnerable people are bullied or manipulated by people they consider to be friends.

Canterbury Police Community Support Officer Dan Mimran has been helping to highlight the crime. He explained: ‘Mate crime can happen to anyone, but children and adults with learning difficulties are especially vulnerable.

‘Perpetrators make friends with someone but go on to abuse or exploit that ‘friend’. This can be anything from low-level bullying to coercing the victims into handing over money or committing crimes.’

Identifying and tackling mate crime is complicated. Victims often do not understand what is happening to them or are too afraid to tell anyone.

To raise awareness PCSO Mimran, a vulnerable adult intervention officer for Kent Police, has been supporting the North Kent Independent Advocacy Scheme (NKIAS) at its workshops for people with learning difficulties and their carers at Canterbury Umbrella Centre.

Director of NKIAS Louise Flatman said the workshops had been funded by the National Lottery and were being held across Kent.

‘For vulnerable people to stop being victims of bullying, abuse and mate/hate crime they need to have the information to help them recognise when this is happening to them or their peers and to be confident to report any incidents,’ she said.

‘As we could not find any training specifically for vulnerable people we decided to set up our own tailor-made training workshops. The National Lottery has funded our project which allows us to deliver these workshops throughout the whole of Kent free of charge.

‘We want people to know that there is always something they can do and there is always someone there to help them.’

Two workshops have already been held at the Canterbury Umbrella Centre, with more planned for 2018.

PSCO Mimran said: ‘The two-day workshops are designed to help people better understand what mate and hate crime is, and what to do and who to tell if you think you may be a victim of it.

‘We also explore the concept of friendship and the difference between good and bad friends.’

‘The workshops we have held have been a success and the feedback from the attendees has been really positive. They have enjoyed the course and have found it empowering – they now know what to do if this happens to them.’

Everyone attending the workshops is offered the opportunity to become a Bully Beater.

Louise Flatman explained: ‘Their role is to look out for incidents of bullying, abuse or mate crime which may be happening to their friends or people they know and to report it to a nominated person. Our aim is to have Bully Beater groups in every district of Kent, which we hope will raise the reporting of abuse and stop people being victims.’

In the meantime, PCSO Mimran said there are signs that families and professionals can look out for if they suspect someone is the victim of mate crime.

• There may be a change in the victim’s behaviour or appearance or they may have unexplained injuries
• The victim may have had money or possessions taken from them
• The victim may have become more isolated and gained a new friend

PCSO Mimran said: ‘It may take tact and sensitivity to help a vulnerable person understand that their friendships may not be what they seem. They will need support and guidance to help them identify the difference between friend and foe.

‘But by educating people about mate crime we hope to raise awareness of this particularly cynical crime type.’

For more information on mate crime and further workshop dates please visit the Kent Police website – https://www.kent.police.uk/advice/mate-crime/.

To report a crime call 101, visit your local police station or report mate crime online.

Protecting and serving the people of Kent