OM demands up to 22 months before anti-gay violence Amsterdam: bystanders attracted two victims from Amstel
According to Justin, thousands of reports already arrived at the hotline, which has been around for a year now. At Rita (Report It Always) They find a listening ear and possibly a referral to assistance, or police. The hotline also keeps track of figures and are sitting at the table with the municipality and pink in blue, the LGBTIQ+network within the police.
Physical violence
“At the discrimination felling point, so many reports of the queer community never received. Now we can show that it really happens a lot, and policy can be made for that,” says Justin.
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Justin is hardly shocked by anything anymore. “In everything I think: yes, this happens to us queers. Bicycles that are destroyed because there is a rainbow sticker on the street. It is not incidental, but structural.” More awareness can cause bystanders to intervene or film earlier, he hopes.
‘Keep track of where something often happens’
Not every report needs follow -up according to the detectors. “Sometimes people just want to say that it happened,” says Justin. “We can also keep maps of neighborhoods where there are many incidents, and where it is therefore less safe for our community.” Most reported incidents take place in the center, around entertainment areas.
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“We were launched with Pride last year and received forty or fifty reports on day one,” he says. “It shows that it is necessary. Of course we would rather have been superfluous.”
Not only incidents on the street, but also events in the workplace are reported. “Not everyone is open about his private life at work. If a colleague is talking about dirty fagers, it feels very unsafe.”
‘Safe Spaces’
On Coming Out Day, 11 October, Rita opens a Community Center in Reguliersdwarsstraat, where people can make physical reports, but can also be organized panel discussions or workshops.
The hotline is also entering into more and more collaborations with places such as the Tolhuistuin and the Melkweg, to create a city -wide network of ‘Safe Spaces’. Visitors are reminded of manners that prevent discrimination.
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The initiative for Rita comes from The Various Agency, which represents people from the rainbow community as Dragqueens. Earlier they had a campaign together with Uber for safe taxi rides.