Cari amici, cari lettori,
con piacere oggi vi proponiamo una
nuova rubrica intitolata HATE CRIMES IN EUROPE!. Sarà tenuta, il
giovedì ogni due settimane, da Cinzia D'Ambrosi (www.cinziadambrosi.com), fotoreporter di
origine italiana che vive a Londra. Di seguito la presentazione del
progetto.
Ringraziamo molto Cinzia D'Ambrosi per
aver accettato la collaborazione con l'Associazione per i Diritti
Umani.
Hate
crimes in Europe!
Hate
crimes in Europe! e'
composto da una serie di reportages che trattano di crimini d'odio in
Europa. Il progetto e' nato dal desiderio di documentare e rendere
visibile l'enormita' dei crimini d'odio e cio' che pericolosamente
rappresentano.
L'intento
e' quello di approfondire questa tematica tramite le storie di coloro
che sono state vittime e di evidenziare anche i riscontri negativi
che questi eventi creano su di loro e sulla societa' in generale.
Hate crimes in Europe!
investiga e documenta, infatti, non solo le storie delle vittime ma
anche i luoghi dove questi crimini sono piu' frequenti. Il progetto
si svolge attraverso un percorso d'immagini raccolte nei luoghi
europei dove il sorgere di movimenti di estrema destra, la poverta'
ed enormi cambiamenti politici, economici o sociali hanno inciso a
tal punto da diventare fulcro di molti episodi d'odio.
Cinzia
D'Ambrosi freelance fotogiornalista ha dato vita al progetto in
Grecia dove ha riscontrato l'esistenza di attacchi e pregiudizi verso
coloro che hanno cercato rifugio nel Paese, dopo essere scappati da
zone di guerra, in particolare dall'Africa sub-sahariana. Scioccata,
ha intervistato e fotografato rifugiati sudanesi, eritrei e di altri
Paesi africani.
Ha
constatato, inoltre, che i crimini sono notevolmente aumentati in
tutta l'Europa. Attacchi a moschee in Bulgaria da membri dell'estrema
destra, in Germania, l'ascesa dell' UKIP in Inghilterra, e il
dilagare dei partiti di estrema destra in altre aree europee non
hanno fatto altro che moltiplicare le manifestazioni di violenza nei
confronti di migranti e di profughi. Questi sono attacchi rivolti
verso coloro che 'rappresentano' uno stereotipo e gli stereotipi
formano pregiudizi che sfociano, troppo spesso, nella violenza fisica
e verbale.
L'intento
di Hate crimes in Europe!
È quello di voler abbattere gli stereotipi e di formare una società
accogliente e rispettosa.
 |
| Images copyright Cinzia D'Ambrosi |
Badara Sila sta ricevendo un trattamento medico da parte di una ONG per disturbi da stress dopo aver subito un attacco atroce da alcuni membri del Golden Dawn in Grecia. Le violenze lo hanno costretto a rimanere in ospedale per alcune settimane.
Badara Sila is now receiving treatment from an NGO for anxiety and stress disorder after he was victim of an atrocious attack by members of the Golden Dawn in Greece
which left him for weeks in hospital.
Hate crimes in Europe!
The
Other Europe is a collection of photo stories that expose the
increasing number of hate crimes.
Crimes of hatred and prejudice are becoming more common by the day. Europe seems to have forgotten its recent history and to be heading towards reaping itself in a loop. Attacks to Mosques in Bulgaria from members of the far right party Attak, Neo Fascist Pegida in Germany burning down hostels where refugees have been given shelter, UKIP in UK proclaiming Britishness, Golden Dawn in Greece attacking black communities and anyone that is not Greek, and the inhuman treatment of refugees seeking shelter in Europe are tell-tales of rising prejudices and hate in European countries. These are some of the escalating events that have reached the headlines, but everyday, increasingly, people become victim of attacks, hate speeches and discrimination. Unfortunately, most of these crimes go unreported.
The root causes for these crimes are subject to debates and research, however the escalating events in the Middle East, the tragedies of war, foreign interventions, the shootings at the French satirical newspaper Charles Hebdo, the current fighting of ISIS and the refugee crisis that is enveloping Europe have all fuelled the emergency of racial and religious hate crimes. This has often translated into a political and media rhetoric that targets migrants, refugees, ethnic minorities and the black communities, those that practice the Islamic faith given rise to extreme right thinking but also to prejudices and discrimination. Thus, it comes into play stereotypes; for example those that practice the Islam faith are more easily suspected of terrorism, or black young people are more likely to be be subjected to stop and search from the police than white young people. The economic downfall and consequetenly a greater inequality in society are also contributing to these events. To a large externd, the countries with an increased number of hate crimes are those where there have been greater changes economically and have had a greater involvement in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and presently in Syria.
As a photojournalist, I am very keen on reporting on hate crimes with the aim to highlight with my work this pressing and important issue and I believe that story telling in a visual manner provides a greater immediacy from the public. The objective is to create a body of work on an European level constructed by various stories based on victims of hate crimes to bring forth the effects that those have on people, but also to achieve a greater understanding of these crimes and ways to denounce them. The project will have a portal with interactive based levels where public can listen to audio interviews, follow photo-essays and videos. The web site will be the key element for information on the project, thus I am hoping for involvement from charities and NGO's on the level that will be able to support and grow the project network and thus increase awareness of this issue. Unless these incidents are tackled at the very beginning raising awareness and proactively denounce them, there will be no end to them. Thus, sensibilize on ground with a campaign that is visually conveying with photo stories of those that have been hit hard by prejudice and hate becomes poignant as it will sensibilize the public on reporting hate crimes. There is a desperate need for this to happen. Europe as a whole has a need to counteract these incidents with a firm position. What it does happen in one country is not disjointed to the others; what happens with Golden Dawn in Greece is not separated from what is happening with Pegida in Germany.
The Photo Stories
The photo stories will be exploring stories based on those that have fallen victim of hate crimes, investigate on the root causes, and highlight the environments which have become hots spots in the dissemination of hate crimes in Europe. Stories will be investigating key angles for instance racism, Islamophobia, ethnicity. The plan is to work in countries, cities and particular areas where there is a greater appeal of far right ideologies and where there is a greater need for intervention.
Greece is one of these countries, which is suffering from severe austerity measures and rising racism. Greece is one of the main entry gates into Europe for refugees fleeing their home countries on the search for safety. In Greece however, refugees are faced with deficiencies in the asylum procedure and appalling detention and living conditions. Without housing, legal papers or support, they are faced with increasing and often violent racism. The black communities are the most targeted by blatant acts of racism, random attacks from members of the Golden Dawn, and or from the police. Despite the severity of the cases which include murder, state and police seem unwilling to address the issue. This project is shedding a light on the crimes committed and the frequent daily occurrences of racism and discrimination among the black refugee communities in Greece.
Vision
The vision is to develop this work on an European level documenting the lives of people that have been negatively impacted by hate crimes with their photo stories. The objective is to highlight the need for intervention; the need to educate, to eradicate the roots for hate and to investigate where these are more frequent in order to understand the environments and the impact of media, politics etc on the occurrence of these crimes. I am researching and beginning to liase with NGOs, charities and foundations that work towards raising awareness of hate crimes. Some of the ideas being generated is to construct regular blogs, Seminars, Workshops and Exhibitions. But also approaching print, online media and broadcasting and the social channels. This to generate and build the necessary profile to reach out to a large amount of people.
It will be amazing to create photo stories in real time so that there will an online stream of the photo-essays as they happen. There are a lot of possible ideas that can be developed, but some of these look at working on an Interactive Web Documentary based presentation so that the photo stories are presented in various interconnected platforms so that they can interact with the public in audios, videos, multimedia and stills to enhance the story telling experience and responsiveness. This is quite strong possibility. I have already approached a Producer who is keen on producing this Interactive Web platform for the project.
