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Young people would rather report hate crime to a person than using an app, Youth Commission survey shows

15 October 2018

A recent survey run by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Youth Commission finds that young people prefer to report a hate crime face to face rather than via a website or an app.

In the survey, 58% of participants said they would prefer to report hate crime to a person, compared with only 10% who said they would prefer to report a hate crime via an app. 18% preferred reporting via email and 14% via a website.

The survey reached more than a thousand young people living in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The headline results are being released during this year’s National Hate Crime Awareness Week in a move to raise awareness of hate crime and encourage more people to report it.

Youth Commission member Tsvetelina Yordanova, 20, said: “The survey results show that although young people may be tech savvy and spend a lot of time using digital devices, when it comes to issues that affect them or their friends and family members personally they still prefer to confide in an actual person to get the support and advice they need.

“Becoming the victim of hate crime can have a serious impact on a person’s sense of identity, confidence, and mental health.

“Whilst it’s good to be able to report anonymously through an app or a website, young people do need trusted adults who are trained to give them the right support and advice.”

As part of their hate crime work, the Youth Commission also reviewed the True Vision hate crime reporting website and app and submitted the findings to the National Police Chief’s Council, who run the site. They found that whilst the content was generally good, neither the website nor the app were user friendly, with forms being too long and navigation and download confusing, making reporting a hate crime online much too time consuming and complicated.

The full results of the survey and the True Vision review will be included in the findings of the Youth Commission’s Big Conversation, a long-term consultation with young people across the Hampshire policing area, and presented alongside a series of recommendations at the Youth Commission Conference on 1 December 2018.