Calls to change an island without a hate crime law

A man who has suffered homophobic and transphobic abuse in Jersey said such cases showed why the island needed a hate crime law.

Sam Pearce said he had experienced verbal and online abuse, as well as threatening behaviour in the island.

Pearce said that, before he transitioned, there was "verbal abuse hurled at me" during a night out, which has been "really demoralising".

In the UK, such crimes are covered by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and section 66 of the Sentencing Act 2020, but Jersey has no similar legislation. Police said such reports were "taken very seriously". The Home Affairs Department has been instructed to prepare a consultation on a new law.

Pearce said his experience was not uncommon within the LGBTQ community in the island.

He said: "You're seen as other, you're seen as unwanted, dangerous... Once you've received that abuse, it can traumatise you.

"I do think Jersey would benefit from having legislation in order for this to continue being a beautiful, safe place to live.

"Without a hate crime law, it's very difficult to report a hate crime because you just think: 'What's going to happen with it?'"

Martha Bernstein, from Jersey's Jewish Congregation, has campaigned with equality charity Liberate to introduce a hate crime law.

She met with the home affairs minister and officials more than 18 months ago and said she had been disappointed that more progress had not been made.

Bernstein said: "There's a level of unease that I've not felt for many, many years.

"We've been told for ages they're looking at it, which, in my opinion, is not good enough.

"If there is a good piece of legislation in places like the UK that can be easily altered to suit the smallness of our jurisdiction of Jersey, then why don't we just simply acknowledge that use it as a baseline?"

In a statement, the Home Affairs Department said: "The minister... has instructed the department to prepare a consultation on a new law, together with a proposed legislative framework, for consideration by the new government."

"The aim of the further consultation is to enable policy development for legislation that is proportionate, enforceable, reflects human rights obligations, protects vulnerable groups and supports a fair, trusted justice system."

A general election is taking place on Sunday 7 June.

Kaye Nicholson, from Liberate, said she wanted the next government to take the issue seriously.

She said: "We hope that, not just the next minister, but the new [States] Assembly as well, will see this as a really important piece of legislation to bring forward as soon as possible."

Nicholson added: "I really strongly encourage people who do receive this kind of abuse or behaviour to report it.

"The police will receive those reports and it would be logged in their system, so that would be really helpful data to have to understand what kind of abuse is happening in our island."

Insp David Turnbull is the head of the police community safety team for Jersey Police and said he wanted anyone who was subject to such abuse to come forward as "it's taken very seriously".

He said: "We're also acutely aware of how emotive and important those types of crimes are to the communities.

"We will then put a warning message on that offence to show a crime has been committed and it has a hate element associated to it when it's reported to us. So, if we need to flag that to the law offices and the courts, we can do that really easily."

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