National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2024 - Sandra's Story

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Connected Voice Advocacy supports people who have been targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity and more through our Hate Crime Advocacy service. Anyone affected by hate crime who is aged 16 or over and lives in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North or South Tyneside, or Northumberland can access this service.

To mark #NationalHateCrimeAwarenessWeek 2024, which takes place from 12-19 October, we want to highlight how this service has made a positive difference to people's lives. To find out more, visit our Hate Crime Advocacy page.

This is the story Sandra, who was recently supported through our Advocacy service. Her name has been changed in this story to ensure her privacy and safety.

Sandra started having problems with her neighbour after moving into a new flat. The hate crimes committed included:

  • having eggs thrown at her window
  • verbal abuse
  • being told she wasn't safe in her home
  • threats to put out all her windows
  • being told to leave
  • reference to her and her daughter's skin colour
  • having large amounts of rubbish dumped in her garden
  • having her plants trampled on
  • having a sticker saying 'death' on it placed on her door, then removed later that morning before she could photograph or show it to anyone
  • having wet paint thrown across her doorstep
  • people staring at her and her daughter 'with hatred' as they pass
  • people exhibiting 'hostile' body language
  • letting fireworks off in the garden and laughing at them
  • regular noise disturbance through the night and early hours of the morning, leading to a lot of sleep deprivation

This all had a huge impact on Sandra's mental wellbeing, and that of her daughter, and they are understandably fearful for their safety. Her wishes are quite simply 'to live peacefully in her flat with her daughter, feeling safe, without harassment and fear of neighbours'.

She has asked that a fence be installed around her garden, to stop the perpetrator trespassing and to create a safe space. She has also asked for a security camera, and a separate and safer access route to her front door, which doesn't involve encountering the neighbour on the shared access route. She also wants punitive action to be taken against him.

Sandra's Advocate has supported her to activate and go through an ASB (anti-social behaviour) case review, helping her to prepare her questions and police statement with an interpreter, and also representing her at the panel meeting. The Advocate has also supported her through a meeting at her home and garden with housing and safe living professionals, to push for her requests to be honoured, and challenge their slow response.

Sandra has been granted a Ring doorbell and a single point of contact within the Police, following the ASB case review. She has been supported to report to and discuss continued enforcement action with the Neighbourhood and Public Protection team and the housing provider. She has also been supported to request an alternative, more accessible way of reporting incidents to and challenging poor communication with the N&PP team (mainly due to a lack of response to texts).

She has been supported to challenge her housing provider, the Police, and the Neighbourhood and Public Protection team over a lack of access to an interpreter, and had her Police record updated, to highlight that she needs one. She has also been supported to submit a complaint about hate crimes perpetrated by a local bus driver.

Sandra is still challenging and asking for her garden to be fenced off and for a new separate access route to be established. No punitive action has been taken against the neighbour for noise disturbance, due to a lack of evidence - he had been issued with a Community Protection Warning just before the Advocacy service became involved. Housing and Community Safety staff have said it is difficult to bring further action currently, as either there is not enough evidence or his more recent actions do not meet the threshold of criminal activity.

Sandra has said: "This has been happening for over 10 months. Please separate his route from ours. Please don't let him have access to the yard and the front door of my flat, we live in fear and anxiety, please help us. We are afraid of him. His noise has kept us awake in the night, my daughter was crying, she was so tired...still they don't do anything, I feel like they don't care."

About having the support of an Advocate, she has also said: "Thank you for coming - thank you for listening and believing me. My daughter loves this place, this room, I'd prefer to stay here. I only have you. You are adamantly trying to help me, to help us get what we need and deserve. I appreciate what you do."