Hátter Society is working together with many government organizations, including the police, the Deputy Commissioner for the protection of rights of nationalities in Hungary and the Victim Support Centers, so that the support given to victims of hate crimes is victim-centered and intersectional.
On July 3rd (2023) the Office of the Commissioner of Fundamental Rights hosted a workshop entitled “Victim-centeredness and Intersectionality in the Fight Against Hate Crimes”. While exchanging views, the representatives of the police, the prosecutor’s office, the court, the Victim Support Centers, the Ministry of Justice, the ombudsman’s office and the civil organizations considered victim-centered approaches and their implementation in domestic practice. They also discussed the specific challenges for victims of hate crimes in and outside criminal proceedings. The experts were able to learn more about each other’s viewpoints, the needs of the victims, and special challenges they face in the procedures. Latency is a huge problem globally related to hate crimes, and reducing this is in the common interest of civil organizations and the public authorities. Building trust in the criminal justice system is an important prerequisite for victims to dare to turn to the public authorities when they are attacked.
At the two Háttér Society trainings, there were altogether 50 participants all working in the criminal justice system, victim support system, or at relevant NGOs. The focus of the training was to increase knowledge about hate crimes and develop empathy with victims. Case-based exercises were an important part of both trainings so participants could put their knowledge of victim-centered approaches into practice. The second training further explored the good and bad practices related to hate crimes using the analysis of videos.
Building on the lessons learned from the research conducted in 2023, which looked beyond the national legislative environment and was based on questionnaires and interviews, Háttér Society created a handbook which presents good practices in the fight against hate crime and victim support, identified together with project partners. In the chapter on investigative and prosecutorial protocol, the Hungarian Police Headquarters’ Hate Crime Instruction is highlighted as a good practice, as it is also an international best practice. The instructions give concrete guidelines for communicating with victims in order to avoid secondary victimization and to facilitate working with them. Besides this, the protocol also recognizes the community dimension of hate crimes, i.e. that these hate crimes have a negative impact on the whole community in addition to the victim.
In April (2024), an information day for (potential) victims was held to reduce latency in hate crime cases, increase confidence in the criminal justice system, and increase awareness of the rights of the members of the communities concerned. Csilla Nagygyőr, Police Lieutenant Colonel, National Coordinator of the Hate Crime Unit, also participated in the roundtable on the definition and nature of hate crime, victims’ legal remedies, and the criminal proceedings.
The final element of the project will be the production of a leaflet and poster, which they hope will be available at all police stations, giving practical advice to victims of bias-motivated incidents.
The project Counter-Hate: Helping victims of hate crime to take a victim-centered approach that addresses multiple discrimination was funded by the European Commission’s Justice program.
