Countering hate crime together: the Racist Violence Recording Network in Greece

Effective co-operation between international organizations and civil society groups to report hate crime incidents and support victims is an important tool in the struggle to end hate crime. In Greece, the Racist Violence Recording Network (RVRN) unites a host of actors working to address and report on hate crime in Greece.

Created in 2011 by the Greek National Commission for Human Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the RVRN now includes 35 civil society groups, with the Greek Ombudsperson and the Migrants’ Integration Council of the Municipality of Athens as observers. The network was formed to help fill gaps in the official data collection system and to address the need for better co-ordination among civil society recording efforts.

Working together in coalition, the RVRN publishes an annual report on hate crime incidents in Greece. The most recent report, from 2015 can be accessed here.

The RVRN has been submitting hate crime data to ODIHR since the network’s creation. Every year RVRN submits information on hate incidents that help show the full scope of bias-motivated violence in Greece. In addition to co-operating on annual hate crime reporting, ODIHR has delivered training workshops for RVRN members in 2011 and 2014, focusing on ensuring the collection and publication of high quality data.  This training helps strengthen the RVRN’s capacity to identify, record and respond to hate crimes, including by providing direct services to victims.  All of RVRN’s participating groups actively provide support to victims of hate crime, offering support through medical, social and legal services.

“By joining forces against hate crime in Greece, the RVRN makes victims visible and contributes to improved access to justice” said Tina Stavrinaki, Assistant Coordinator at UNHCR Greece. You can hear more from Stavrinaki in this short video interview  about the RVRN’s role.

Find out more about the RVRN on their website.