Year on year consistently the number of hate crimes reported to Dyfed Powys Police has increased since 2018. Among these reported crimes, homophobic specific incidents have also increased.
Currently, the UK law recognises five types of hate crime. The five are; race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. A hate crime which has been reported can then be prosecuted if the offender has either demonstrated hostility in the five categories and/or has been motivated by hostility based on the five listed categories.
Now, as a result of these concerning increases in rural parts of Wales, people who have found themselves at the receiving end of such crimes are speaking out about their experiences in an attempt to highlight the issue. As part of this, Pembrokeshire has also launched it's own Pride event with event organisers are hoping that it will improve morale within the community
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Joshua Beynon, a Labour County Councilor based in Pembrokeshire, was on the receiving end of torrents of abuse online. While maintaining a relatively positive outlook, Joshua admitted to WalesOnline that certain comments made by abusers left him so scared he felt trapped in his own home.
With more that 40 people harassing him online he turned to the police authority to report the crimes. However, he claims that comments, such as being called a pedophile, were deemed not offensive by a police officer. More concerning, the young councilor admitted that homophobia and homophobic slurs were all too common for him growing up.
After supporting asylum seekers who were placed in the controversial Penally camp in 2020, Joshua was inundated with vile abuse, which led to him reporting at least 40 people to police. From being called a pedophile and having his own life threatened, Joshua reveled wearing a mask during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic made him feel more comfortable as it hid his identity. As a result, Joshua had to receive professional counseling for four months.
"I mean Covid already did isolate people regardless of who you are, and especially if you're from an already marginalised group such as the LGBTQ+ community," Joshua explained. "It made it more difficult to find people like yourself that you could talk to. So when you can't go out and communicate, you go online and get the support, and then you get the opposite side and get targeted and the hatred.
"I reported god knows how many crimes to the police, not just the ones against me, but the comments that I've seen online. I can't speak for other police forces, because I've only lived here [Pembrokeshire] but they don't know how to handle hate crime and how to effectively deal with it. Underlining that, I was told by a police officer once that being called a pedophile, which is obviously an homophobic slur, isn't that offensive. Especially for LGBTQ+ people the [abuse] could be constant, so when you finally do report it makes you feel like there is support there.
"As a person who has gone through this, the process in terms of reporting these crimes is very detrimental and has a structure that doesn't reflect the experiences of the victims. So you report and because it's a hate crime, they assign a principal officer to you and it's maybe not what you need or what you want. And I think the police haven't quite understood that kind of multidisciplinary approach and we need that support all year round."
Using a Freedom Of Information Request, it was found that the total reported hate crimes to Dyfed-Powys Police have increased yearly since 2018. Homophobic specific hate crimes have also increased.
However, positive steps are being implemented to try and tackle the issue. One of the organisations playing their part include Pembrokeshire Pride and the team behind it. Organisers have stated that they are "dedicated" to not only putting on LGBTQ+ events, but also raising awareness of the issues the LGBTQ+ community face in the area and signposting anyone to advise, support and information. The event is set to launch on Thursday the 14 of July and will run until Saturday the 16 July.
Drew Baker, the appointed Chairperson of Pembrokeshire Pride said: "Having been back here for nearly two years, I've realised how behind Pembrokeshire really is. Certainly in terms of the LGBTQ+ community, it's really sort of hidden under the carpet and not talked about. Pride is something that's really missing and something the community is really missing. More information can be found here.
"There is a huge amount of people living in Pembrokeshire, but they're not necessarily prepared to be public about that because they're scared. That's why I got a group of people together and said 'right, come on, let's create a group' and one of the other reasons really was I was very aware that there was nowhere down here we could signpost people to for support or help. In one of our secondary schools here, it got highlighted in a report that there was no support for the LGBTQ+ students. I just want to see what's happening in the rest of the UK happen here."
When approached for comment surrounding the rise in reported hate crimes, a spokesperson from Dyfed-Powys Police said: "Dyfed-Powys Police takes hate crime extremely seriously. Much work has been undertaken in force to increase confidence and trust in reporting hate crime and so we anticipated an increase in reporting.
"On top of this, since 2020 we have seen a number of significant events, which at the time saw an increase in reported hate crimes above the longer term trend. This included community tension around Covid restriction, protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement and protests and counter protests surrounding the establishment of the Penally Asylum Accommodation Centre in Pembrokeshire. Reported hate crimes have since returned back to the long-term trend and we continue to take each crime seriously, working with our communities and key partners to support those affected and prevent any escalation."
