Do the religious and faith communities have faith, confidence to engage the police and regulatory bodies?

Do the religious and faith communities have faith, confidence to engage the police and regulatory bodies?

I hope to be part of a new investigatory report starting this year:

On 27 March 2018 the joint House of Commons/House of Lords Committee on Human Rights (chaired by Harriet Harman QC MP) released its report on freedom of speech in universities.

Report executive summary

In the report, the Committee raised serious concerns about restrictions being placed on freedom of speech about faith, discussion of sexuality and abortion. Many of these restrictions come from other students seeking to impose “no-platform” and “safe-spaces” policies on the expression of minority views they disagree with. The committee heard evidence that Christians, and particularly Christian Unions, have been treated differently from other groups, had significant restrictions placed on them, been banned from freshers’ fairs, had their publications heavily censored, and even been labelled as extremists. The committee strongly condemned such actions and urged universities to take disciplinary action against those responsible, stating: “Universities must be places where open and uncensored debate (within the law) can take place so students can think for themselves and develop their own opinions on ideas which may be unpopular, controversial or provocative.”

The concern of some religious and faith based communities is that they are also facing pressure when preaching in the public domain such as conventions and in the street. 

In this new private report we look at this also other concerns such as:

Do the religious and faith communities have faith, confidence to engage the police and regulatory bodies?

Domestic violence or sexual abuse can occur in any relationship, regardless of ethnicity, religion, class, gender, age or lifestyle. Religious Hate Crime is on the increase especially in the religious and faith based community. Yet there are concerns that the police and local authorities such as Children's Welfare Services are failing to identify cases within religious and faith based communities, and in particular within Muslim, Jewish and other religious communities such as Jehovah's Witnesses.

Agencies must not downplay ethnic, ideological or religious dimensions of abuse if it means better identifying the perpetrators, bringing them to justice and supporting the victims. Are religious and faith based communities enjoying free speech in Britain?

This report will highlight the challenges faced by the authorities when policing and investigating the religious and faith based population of Britain. It will also examine religious and faith based communities and organisations attitudes to law enforcement and other regulatory agencies, including how individuals have been treated when reporting crimes to the police.

Initial questions proposed for the report are;

• Do the police and Children's Services and other agencies feel equipped to fulfill their responsibilities within religious and faith based communities?
• Is official current guidance a help or a hindrance?
• Which changes are needed to improve operational standards and community policing
• What are the main barriers facing victims of Hate Crimes, Child Sex Abuse, Domestic Violence? Are Religious and Faith based communities disproportionately affected? 
• Are there genuine concerns about the authorities wrongly upsetting Religious and Faith Based Communities
• Are religious and faith based communities in Britain enjoying free speech?

Above Possible questions and they will be amended as before launch. If you are a member of Parliament and you have any suggestions please get in touch.