This project contributes to the assistance to victims of hate crimes, by guaranteeing that legislation and policies establish a victim-centered and intersectional approach.
The Counter-Hate is a two-years (2022-2024) action-research project, which is implemented in six European countries (Spain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, and Lithuania) and is funded by the Justice Programme of the European Union. The project is coordinated by the University of Girona and its main aim is to contribute to the assistance to victims of hate crimes, by guaranteeing that legislation and policies establish a victim-centered and intersectional approach.
During the first half of the project, a quantitative/qualitative research will be carried-out in the participant countries. First of all, a desk-research will be implemented in order to analyse the legal and political frameworks regarding hate crimes and the assistance to victims. After that, in-depth interviews will be carried out with victims and key professionals in order to study their personal or professional experiences linked to hate crimes, and their viewpoints relating to the existing measures to combat these social problem. To complement the qualitative research, a survey will be conducted to key professionals to gather their opinions in relation to the hate crimes paradigm and intersectionality.
Based on the results of the research carried out, the action phase will consist in the detection of best practices in the combat against hate crimes for later organise national and international workshops amongst professionals and policy makers to foster the cooperation and the exchange of best practices. Following these activities, a “training for trainers” module for security and justice practitioners will be designed and piloted in order to increase their skills in the fight against hate crimes and the assistance to victims. Moreover, strategy at social, political and scientific levels will be implemented to ensure the dissemination of the results and the long-term impact of the project.