Fighting Hate speach

This activity starts by encouraging young people to think and learn about what hate speech is and how it affects the people against whom it is directed. But in addition, the idea is to immediately - directly - give young people the opportunity to act and become part of problem solving. In this way, young people go beyond the framework of theoretical knowledge and apply it in practice, they learn that they can do something and we encourage them to become active citizens.

We are doing this workshop and activity to encourage young people to become active citizens, and especially where it is most important - in the protection of human rights of marginalized groups and national minorities At the same time, we raise awareness about the topic with concrete examples of the impact of hate speech on minorities, give them the theoretical knowledge needed to recognize hate speech, and then provide space for their active contribution, thus completing the whole process.

The facilitator must have experience in working with sensitive topics and have a high degree of personal awareness  about the topic so that he does not relativize or simplify hate speech and its effects on individuals and the community.

The workshop is intended for already formed groups - such as members of informal initiatives, a group of volunteers who already know each other, a group that  undergoes training for several modules / meetings together. This is important because of the introductory activity in which personal data is shared, but also because of ensuring the implementation of developed activity aimed at countering hate speech.

The biggest risk is not carrying out the developed activity. It is therefore important to clearly motivate the participants and agree with them on the form of support and follow-up after the workshop. Another risk is the opening of sensitive personal experiences in the introductory activity. For this reason, it is important to carry out the activity with a group that the facilitator knows, but also who knows each other and within which there is trust.

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It is necessary to secure the permission of the owner of the facility where the hate speech is removed. In the case of the action of the Croatian WakeUP team, the partner of the activity was the youth initiative Mladforma, which secured the permission of the City of Osijek to remove hate speech from kindergartens.

printed out pictures

In the central part, the facilitator shares three cases of hate speech and a poster "How can you recognize Hate speech?". Cases of hate speech are - 1) a writing on the wall calling for the persecution of minorities; 2) a statement by a politician calling on the people to deal with migrants who "threaten the majority"; 3) football fans who insult a rival group on a national basis ... participants use  posters to devise a way to react in specific cases and to send the opposite message, and then present their activities.
 

The facilitator explaines the plan of concrete action of Fighting hate speach (in this case removing hate speech from the walls and drawing graffiti with positive messages) and invites them to join the graffiti workshop. He explains that for the needs of this workshop, all permits have been obtained and that it is carried out with the consent of the City, which owns the area.