Activists call for hate crime legislation
(CNS): Noel Cayasso-Smith, the founder of the Cayman LGBTQ Foundation, is calling on legislators to introduce hate crime legislation, not just to protect members of the community his organisation represents but all vulnerable groups who could be targeted because of who they are.
Following the attack on a gay couple, who were dragged from their car and beaten over the holiday weekend after they were seen kissing by their attackers, Cayasso-Smith said he was outraged by the violence and disappointed that, despite the pleas from the gay community, hate crime is not on the legislative agenda.
Even though reform of the Penal Code is currently going through a public discussion phase, hate crime is not part of the proposed amendments.
“We need hate crime legislation, not just for the gay community but everyone, across the board, that could be targeted because of who they are or their vulnerabilities,” he told CNS. “For someone to be able to cross another person, see them kiss their partner and then drag them from the car… it is clear we need to do more to protect the community and educate people.”
Cayasso-Smith said he has made an appointment to discuss the issue with governor, as he believes quick action is needed towards legislation and sensitivity training for the police. There is also a need to raise awareness in the community that this type of crime will not be tolerated and there will be significant repercussions for those convicted.
Cayasso-Smith has been calling for specific hate crime legislation for some time as he believes it will make a difference. He said that during past discussions with Police Commissioner Derek Byrne, the idea had been rejected as Byrne had said he did not believe there was a major concern regarding homophobic violence. But Cayasso-Smith rejects this position.
“A lot of things happen here that people do not report,” he said, adding that the LGBTQ Foundation has considerable anecdotal evidence that homophobic abuse is far from uncommon. “But people are afraid to come forward. There is a perception that some officers are somewhat homophobic themselves,” he said.
Even in this case, the first officer who took the report was rather dismissive, Cayasso-Smith revealed after speaking with the victims. The couple are relatively new residents to Cayman. They arrived here last year and had believed that it would be a safe place to live, given that Cayman recently celebrated its first Gay Pride event and had introduced civil partnership legislation.
Aside from the trauma of the attack, the couple were also disappointed by the way that the case had initially been handled. But they were much more reassured after they raised concerns and the case was passed on to another officer with more experience.
“The police really need to step up on issues like this, especially front-line officers. They all swear an oath to protect everyone, including those in the gay community and other vulnerable groups. How the RCIPS handles this case will be very important,” Cayasso-Smith said.
“We need to send a message to deter others and to encourage people to report this type of abuse. Having hate crime laws would then also enable the courts to apply stiffer penalties to those who perpetrate violence based on hate. Everyone deserves to feel safe and protected regardless of their sexual orientation,” he added.
Cassayo-Smith said Cayman is a very small country and there is no room for this kind of hate. “We need to learn to get along,” he said. “The gay community is not going anywhere. We work, we do our bit and we are part of Cayman too.”
He urged all victims of hate crimes to report them, even where they are subjected to verbal abuse because that can easily escalate to more serious offences. The more the police know, the better they can understand the extent of the problem and recognise the need to modernise the law, he noted.
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Category: Crime, Crime Prevention
And while we are at it let’s talk about proper protocols for dealing with domestic violence and protecting the victims of that.
There are domestic related violence cases every day in Cayman and many victims fear for their lives and realize the police cannot help them and there is no specialized Government department trained and qualified to properly deal with these crimes.
Whoever put up the reward, perhaps they could put up a reward every time a woman gets raped or bashed, show the same outrage and support for women, who are attacked and harassed more than any other group.
This ^. Couldn’t have said it better. People also get beat up for a lot more petty reasons. This case shouldn’t be treated any more important than any other.
Closet homo (at least one) in Parliament! Also known to get publicly drunk and violent!
It’s quite simple, is the perps get charged and found guilty they need to be registered as violent sex offenders, It was a sex related crime and they should be treated accordingly.
Sadly we don’t have a sex offenders registry either, so we need to add that as well.
Still confused on what made that event a homophobic event.
The fact that they dragged a same-sex couple out of their car to assault them when they did nothing to instigate the attack other than engaging in consensual affectionate behaviour, while the attackers yelled homophobic slurs, is what makes it a homophobic event.
How often are there hate crimes here?🙄
How many do you need there to be before it becomes wrong?
How often does a landlord have to settle unpaid rent by seizing the tenant’s cattle and produce? And yet, we have a law that governs that…
Not sure why the need to adopt legislation is being put entirely on the police? The police, including the Commissioner, don’t actually create legislation. The issue should be taken to the Premier and his government (though I understand why there would be reluctance to do so).
But we all hate crime. Why pass a law, about it.
Will our Brit and West Indian Police and Regiment go through sensitivity training and wake up to the situation at hand? How about our sitting MLAs and Civil Service? Cayman Islands Ministers Association?
Caymin is literally running a hate site using *.KY domain extension, in contravention of both ICTA/OFReg terms of use, and GoDaddy/ICAAN rules on discrimination. Their Facebook page is no better – also in violation of Meta rules on discrimination. Hate speech and orchestrated international hate campaigns are not protected “free speech” n any of these platforms.
http://www.caymin.ky
Watch PACT’s knee-jerk reactions to this! Crime is crime PACT!
You cannot legislate morality, manners, decency, common sense or tolerance, those things are taught through good parenting and decency. Let’s start with that and see how far we get.
I would hate to say its never going to happen here. So I won’t. Because it could if thier was something governing it the right way. This all stems from the top and past issues. Religion is not helping the people if they don’t act on the modern world terms. Everything needs to adjust. People need to take the good parts of Religion and use it for good only. Governments need to educate so that the people understand the way people should act in a public setting. Police need to act when there is a reason to act and not just leave things till they escalate. All of these things need 10 million words to fix them here. I think its going to be a long time before things get better, because the problems start from the top.
In fairness, what we see and hear in Cayman from the Cayman Ministers labelled as Christianity, is not mainstream Catholicism or Anglican Church of England. Those main branches not only accept same sex partnerships, but count them among their ordained clergy. What we have here are over 200 fringe right-wing Creationist-based evangelistic and fundamentalist churches, many of them with meddling financial ties to the anti-gay backwaters of pious USA midwest, some enjoying lucrative connections to the trans-Caribbean drug trade, and count membership of perhaps 2500 of our 67k residents. We need to unplug their megaphone, dismantle their money laundering apparatus, and remove undue 16th century Creationist ideology from future-forward policy making. Not only would quality of life and social disfunction improve, but in the process it might also help convince supervisory PCAMLATF agencies that we no longer deserve their warnings and blacklistings.
The churches that promote homosexuality are the ones that are wrong. You cannot rewrite the Bible
How can you promote homosexuality if it’s not something you can acquire? Unlike religious affiliation, for example.
Can you promote blue colored eyes or being left handed? Please, try to start thinking.
of course you can, its immoral to murder, steal, assault others, and there are laws against it.
its common sense that you should not drive up the wrong side of a dual carriageway into oncoming traffic, and we have a law for that too.
All laws are based on a society’s views of morality
Crime is crime. All crime is hate crime. Don’t follow the world’s example and hold up certain victims as special or certain villains as more evil. It just leads to more division. One law for all. Assault is assualt regardless of who the victim is and the perp is a criminal regardless of who he/she does it to.
Really. Do a bit of research to actually see why there is a difference.
“People victimized by violent hate crimes are more likely to experience more psychological distress than victims of other violent crimes.ii Specifically, victims of crimes that are bias-motivated are more likely to experience post-traumatic stress, safety concerns, depression, anxiety and anger than victims of crimes that are not motivated by bias.iii,iv,v
Hate crimes send messages to members of the victim’s group that they are unwelcome and unsafe in the community, victimizing the entire group and decreasing feelings of safety and security.vi,vii Furthermore, witnessing discrimination against one’s own group can lead to psychological distress and lower self-esteem.
Nonsense. All victims of violent crimes suffer psychological distress.
Exactly. It was a crime, full stop, whether beating up straights, gays, transgenders, or dogs.
How about hate and jealousy legislation to protect civil servants.
How to turn this horrific assault into frivolous civil service selfishness.
They should put John-John in charge of this. He might learn something about being human and accepting all people.
He certainly has experience both with homophobia and with assault – he would be perfect.
how about some basic human rights for expats in general???
Don’t mention the VOTE FFS
Boy: gal shut up will ya. Tata.
No one should be kissing in public straight or gay. Peck on the cheek or lips fine, but not sucking each others faces.
And if their lips touch, they should dragged into the street and beaten bloody?
1. No one has the right to hit someone for no reason.
2. They were in their car.
3. I doubt anyone would beat up a man and woman kissing each other.
Absolutely. They should keep it in the closet where it belongs, amirite?
Mind your business, how about that?
Outraging Public Decency, if it were enforced, would see the end of all of our parades – including the kiddie ones. Please join the rest of us in the 21st Century.
Neanderthal speaks
here we go with the you hit me i hit you back