A new platform has launched that aims to make it easier for Hamilton residents to report incidents of hate.
WeSupportHamilton.ca is a new website that aims to give people who have experienced hate an option to report as much or as little information as they’re comfortable sharing.
Lyndon George, executive director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HAARC), says it’s an option for people who may not feel comfortable reporting such incidents to the police.
“We know hate crimes often go underreported,” said George during a press conference in front of city hall on Monday. “Individuals experiencing hate … may respond to the incident through alternative means, either privately or with the assistance of someone they trust. They might believe that reporting a hate crime or hate incident could cause them more trouble, or that the police may be unable to do anything about the incident.“
Despite that, the number of hate and bias incidents reported to Hamilton police increased last year, with 174 incidents overall.
Dr. Ameil Joseph, an associate professor of social work at McMaster University, said the work to develop WeSupportHamilton.ca has been underway since 2019 when Hamilton’s Pride festival was targeted by hateful demonstrators.
Joseph said one major ask from the community during consultations that year was an online hate-reporting platform that would also connect individuals experiencing hate with resources and support programs.
“This iteration of this platform is five years into an ongoing story,” he said. “This is the place where we start something new, something entirely different, something that provides a kind of support and care that I think I would want myself.”
Kim Martin, who is part of No Hate In The Hammer, said she was only in Hamilton for two months when she was personally targeted in a hate incident.
“At that point, I really wasn’t sure what to do, because most of my life, when those things happen, there’s really just nothing to do. And for me, the launch of this platform means that there is something that people can do,” she said.
“There’s somewhere that they can go. And … even if there’s no resolution in a legal sense, at least there’s something validating about being able to tell someone that this happened to me.”
Kojo Damptey, the former executive director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI), has watched the development of the WeSupportHamilton platform since 2019 and described its launch as a “historic day for Hamilton.”
He said some of the next steps that HAARC and HCCI will be taking will include having discussions with Statistics Canada about how the data being collected through this platform can be integrated with the data that is reported to Hamilton police.
“There might be hate incidents and hate crimes that may or may not reach the level of criminality that the police have to engage in, and we still want to capture that,” said Damptey.
Incidents that may qualify as hate crimes can be reported online to Hamilton police, but Det. Fabiano Mendes of the hate crime unit said any additional initiatives to report hate in Hamilton are always welcome.
“It’s important for us to understand what’s happening in the city,” he said. “Not only crimes but incidents so we can move forward and identify trends and deploy necessary resources.”
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