STAND together against hatred and prejudice – that’s the call to Greater Manchester people ahead of Hate Crime Awareness Week.

This year people from across Greater Manchester have shown their support to end hate crime by featuring in a video, reciting the Hate Crime pledge.

Shared across social media throughout the week the video calls on people from across the city-region to sign up to the promise at letsendhatecrime.com/promise . The promise reads:

Let’s End Hate Crime – the Greater Manchester Promise

I’m proud that Greater Manchester is a place where everyone is free to be themselves: where no one should face violence, abuse or hatred just because of who they are, who they love, where they’re from, what they look like or what they believe.

If I see someone abused like this I won’t stand by. I’ll take a stand and:

• support them
• challenge their abuser, if it’s safe; and
• report it.

Hate crimes are acts of hostility, such as violence or verbal abuse, directed at someone because of who they are. It’s things like someone being spat at because they are black, or being called names because they are a Muslim and wear a headscarf, or being beaten up for being gay.

Reporting hate crime is easy – you can do it online at http://www.report-it.org.uk/home, call the police on 101 or, if you don’t want to speak to police, report it at one of dozens of independent reporting centres across Greater Manchester.