David Scott: Cycle of bigotry can be broken

LAST week the Crown Office published its annual breakdown of hate crime across Scotland.

While there was a welcome reduction in the total numbers of offences, Scotland still managed to hit a depressing landmark: the 762 charges for religious hate crimes brought the total number of charges to more than 7,000 since the introduction of anti-sectarian laws in 2003.

Of those convicted, 40 per cent received only a financial penalty and, more worryingly, 50 per cent of those charged were under the age of 30. If sectarianism is, as we are told by sceptics, something buried in our past, why does it continue to attract new disciples?

Earlier this year I met one of these statistics, a young man who came to our attention after he pled guilty to posting sectarian abuse on the internet.

Encouraged by his family, he attended several of our workshops, where he heard others talking about the impact of sectarianism on their own lives and felt the anger and sadness of victims.

Nil By Mouth is arguing for a nationwide rehabilitation scheme for anyone convicted of sectarian offences. The programme would create an environment where our young people would have to defend the attitudes they assert and, more importantly, engage with victims.

Have our young people had time and the space to ask why they hold these beliefs and understand their consequences? Or are they merely being carried along by the tide, safe in the knowledge that “things have always been this way” and there has always been a “them” and “us”.

Has there? How can you be so sure about that? Where do you begin to define “them” or “us”? If we are to defeat sectarianism these are the questions we should be asking and we must adopt a twin approach in educating our children and challenging offenders.

A mandatory rehabilitation scheme wouldn’t change every participant. Yet our experience has shown that there are those prepared to grasp the opportunity, acknowledge their mistakes and help challenge attitudes they themselves once held.

The cycle of bigotry can be broken.
• David Scott is campaign director of Nil By Mouth.