Hate speech is most common on the Internet and towards members of the LGBT population, and the media and parents should participate more actively in campaigns against this phenomenon, according to the round table of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Prima.
The round table "The role of the public and civil sector in the fight against hate speech - domestic and regional experiences" is part of the project "We all stand up against hate speech", which lasts until the end of the month.
The executive director of the NGO Prima, Aida Perović - Ivanović, assessed that there is most hate speech on the Internet.
"The Internet left the possibility that you can say what you think anonymously or at least in a way that is not appropriate in a direct address. "Today, people are increasingly openly expressing their views, which we can clearly and precisely define as hate speech," explained Perović-Ivanović.
According to her, those who would rather spread an inclusive attitude are much quieter.
"Unfortunately, those who would much rather and more confidently spread the word of love, i.e. speech of acceptance of others and different, they are much quieter. Or they are much less encouraged to express such positive attitudes publicly", said Perović-Ivanović.
NGO Prima, through the project "We all stand up against hate speech", as she explained, cooperated with youth volunteer centers in Podgorica, Nikšić, Tuzi, as well as Tivat.
"We had a huge number of young people from those municipalities who wanted to get involved. We trained young people, through local and international training, together with young people from ten other European countries. In that first part, where we trained, we could not include all those interested, but in the second part, where the campaign was held, we managed to involve many more young people", explained Perović-Ivanović.
The Director General of the Directorate for Youth in the Ministry of Sports, Nenad Koprivica, said that Montenegro actively participates in the programs of the Council of Europe, which refer to the campaign to suppress hate speech, which, as he explained, is called "The fight against violent extremism and radicalism that leads terrorism".
"Montenegro, together with 42 members of the Council of Europe, actively participates and implements its obligations in that system. Expressions of hate speech represent a great concern for the Council of Europe, because they are often an expression of discrimination and can lead to violations of human rights," explained Koprivica.
According to him, the media play a key role in suppressing hate speech.
"The Madis are the ones who play a key role, of course in addition to the institutions of the system. All of us, as members of this society, should work to create a climate where there will be less hate speech and less intolerance", said Koprivica.
As an important activity of the Administration for Sports and Youth, he emphasized the translation of Bookmarks, i.e. manual for the suppression of hate speech.
"The manual was published by the Council of Europe, while it was translated and printed into the Montenegrin language by the Sports and Youth Administration. That manual is used in the training of trainers, who transfer the acquired knowledge in schools, but also create and implement new activities aimed at suppressing hate speech," said Koprivica.
Vanja Rakočević, pedagogue and coordinator of the "Slobodan Škerović" High School Volunteer Club, said that there are examples of hate speech and violence on the Internet, which, as she explained, happens between students, but also between students and teachers.
"In an attempt to respond to that problem, we designed the project "No hate offline, no hate online" in the belief that basic human rights and values should be equally respected both in the real and in the virtual world," explained Rakočević.
The project began to be implemented in 2014, and since then, as she said, the parents have shown the least desire to get involved in solving the problem of hate speech.
"We hope that in the new times we will be more creative and that we will be able to involve parents in a better way," Rakočević said.
Program manager at the NGO Forum youth and non-formal education, Tamara Čirgić, said that last year and this year 150 teachers were trained in the campaign against hate speech, stressing that there was resistance.
"We had a lot of resistance when it comes to this topic, and that's why there is a need to continue working on this. We have had teachers who are open, but also teachers who think that this topic is not important at all for today. Somewhere they even thought that the Internet should be abolished for young people," explained Čirgić.
The coordinator of the campaign for Bosnia and Herzegovina from the municipal organization Red Cross in Novi Sarajevo, Ismail Šehić, said that there is a lot of hate speech in the Balkans, and the goal, as he explained, is to mobilize people in their communities who can work on suppression of hate speech.
"Statistics show that every day we have more and more hate speech on the Internet. People are not so open to say some things to their face, so everything is based on the internet. The problem is that those who see it do not report hate speech," explained Šehić.
He pointed out that hate speech on portals and social networks should be reported, noting that every person deserves to be posted.
"Just as we respect other religions and nations, we should respect a person who wants to be what he wants to be," said Šehić.
The coordinator of the campaign for Serbia from the NGO Edit Center, Teodora Radanović, explained that hate speech is any speech that can hurt someone, stating that the campaign in Serbia was mainly aimed at the LGBTIQ population.
"We believe that in Serbia, hate speech is mostly aimed at that population, so we tried to make young people aware of the problems that LGBTIQ people face every day. And we were positively surprised by the way in which people wanted to contribute to the fight against hate speech," Radanović pointed out.
She said that hate speech spreads the most online and in teenage groups.
Activist of the Tivat Youth Club and participant of the ARAHS project in Montenegro, Polina Čečina, said that there is less hate speech in Tivat than in larger areas.
"We are a small community, we all know each other and that has a lot of influence on the amount of hate speech. However, it should be done in spheres that include the LGBT population, as well as the Roma. These are the most vulnerable groups that suffer the most from hate speech," Čečina believes.
According to her, raising awareness about the problem of hate speech and prevention are very important, because, as she said, young people are the future.
"Martin Luther King said that darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can. Likewise, hatred cannot be driven away by hatred, only love can do that," Čečina said.
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