Uniting youth power against intolerance

ongoing

The project aims to contribute to reducing the prevalence of hate speech and hate crime among youth in 6 Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania) by improving knowledge and awareness, strengthening the capacities of the education system and youth services for prevention, and building coalitions to advocate for policy changes. It also seeks to ensure that victims of hate crime and hate speech from vulnerable groups (migrants and refugees, ethnic and racial minorities, and LGBTIQ+ people) receive high quality support and that there is wider awareness of the impact of hate speech and hate crime on them, contributing to better reporting and enforcement mechanisms. The project targets young people who are real and potential perpetrators of hate speech and hate crime, as well as victims, both at the individual and CSO levels. The focus on youth perpetrators is a key innovation aspect of this project is, since previous research indicates that youth from socio-economically marginalised backgrounds are a key group that is vulnerable to becoming perpetrators. Project activities include: - Country studies to achieve deeper knowledge about the drivers of hate crime and hate speech among youth, as well as the national policy frameworks; - Development and piloting of educational resources for use by educators in schools, youth groups and social services; - Development of victim support services for individual victims and a digital library of resources for CSOs; - Development and piloting of a training course for specialists who work with victims and perpetrators; - Creating national coalitions of CSOs and experts, who will develop policy recommendations and advocate for them with policy makers; - Running awareness raising campaigns on the negative effects of hate speech and hate crime; - Knowledge-sharing and learning exchange activities between the project countries, including an international conference.