Impact North Shore is proud to launch #STEPUpNorthShore, a multi-lingual, anti-racism awareness campaign built to equip and motivate community members to intervene during incidents of racism on the North Shore.
“The harmful experiences and effects of racism are an everyday reality for people in our communities” says Lorelei Phillips, Director of Partnership Engagement at Impact North Shore. “The ongoing legacies of colonialism, racism, and other forms of injustice continue to shape our interactions, institutions, and systems.”
Racism happens in a variety of community settings. Based on responses to Impact North Shore’s 2024 annual im/migrant survey, the top places where people experience racism on the North Shore are walking on the street, at a store, bank or restaurant, and at school. In addition, the top places people witness racism taking place on the North Shore also include public transit and work.
New police reported hate crime stats, released on March 13, 2024 by Statistics Canada, show that the national number of hate crimes in Canada rose 7% from 2021 to 2022. This latest increase comes following two consecutive annual increases, resulting in a cumulative rise of 83% from 2019 to 2022. Higher numbers of hate crimes targeting a race or an ethnicity (+12%) and a sexual orientation (+12%) accounted for most of the increase in 2022, and British Columbia ranked 3rd among provinces, recording the highest hate crime rates.
#STEPUpNorthShore brings the North Shore Racism Response Protocol to life by encouraging people to act against racism and hate on the North Shore, and aims to increase safety by offering ways to proactively prevent, prepare for, and intervene in incidents of racism. Using an interactive website, social media and posters across the community, this campaign is built around the four key sections of the Protocol: Safety & Prevention, Taking Charge, Event Documentation & Reporting, and Providing Care to provide information, education, and tools to appropriately respond to, report on, and support victims of a range of race and hate-based incidents. Find out how you can #STEPUp for a more inclusive North Shore at https://stepupnorthshore.com/.
Read the story on this campaign on the North Shore News!
