Programmatic Action for Tackling Hate crime in Romania

ongoing

The project Programmatic Action for Tackling Hate crime in Romania-PATH aims to continue inter institutional cooperation in the field of hate crime and civil society engagement, while providing added value by engaging local communities and enhancing support for victims of hate crime. We aim to foster the development of a National Action Plan on tackling SOGI based hate crime and 4 local plans in 4 major cities in Romania. Moreover, we will develop a data collection methodology in cooperation with law enforcement to be used at local levels and to ground a shadow report by civil society organizations. We increase institutional capacity by enabling law enforcement staff to provide and multiply training on tackling SOGI hate crime. We plan to organize a series of training of trainers with law enforcement trainers from the Police Academy, National Institute of Magistracy, Institute for Public Order Studies and the Public Ministry - the Prosecutor’s Office attached ot the Hight Court of Cassation and Justice. Victims' support, an area unaddressed by public authorities, will also benefit from PATH. Despite the provisions of the Victims Rights Directive, in Romania, LGBTI persons receive legal support, psychological counseling and social assistance only from ACCEPT, thus we aim to engage national social assistance services by training their staff to receive referrals and tackle the challenges faced by LGBTI victims of hate crime. We also work on the legal literacy of grassroots LGBTI local communities in order to increase hate crime reporting through a legal caravan across 4 cities in order to teach LGBTI persons their rights and how to file a complaint regarding a hate crime, and a communication campaign. Our project proposal is supported by two key institutions cooperating for tackling hate crime: the Romanian People’s Advocate institution – Office of the Ombudsperson and the Public Ministry - Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court for Cassation and Justice.