REPORTING ABUSE

Reporting anti-LGBTQ+ abuse to Sheffield Wednesday

If you are unfortunate enough to experience or witness homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and any other form of discrimination at a Sheffield Wednesday home game, then please report it as quickly as possible during the match to the Stadium Control Room via text on 07526 166907.

If possible, please include details of where the incidents occurred, such as row and seat numbers, as well as descriptions of the abuse and/or abuser, including names.

If you experience or witness such in-person abuse outside the stadium as a Sheffield Wednesday supporter on matchdays, or if any anti-LGBTQ+ abuse occurs online, then please make a complain to the club at operationsenquiries@swfc.co.uk

This page on Sheffield Wednesday's website includes further details about reporting abuse to the club and this webpage explains sanctions that can be applied by the club. This includes a ban, ranging from three seasons to a lifetime period, for any discriminatory language and unacceptable behaviour that is proven to be in breach of EFL regulations.

Rainbow Owls can also advice and support at any stage of the reporting and post-reporting process, so please contact us at rainbow.owls@outlook.com if you have any queries.

You can also email Kick It Out at report@kickitout.org if you wish for anti-LGBTQ+ abuse to be logged onto their system.

Reporting an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime to a third-party service

If you experience or witness an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime - whether it's online or in-person and whether it's as a Sheffield Wednesday supporter or in your everyday life - then you can discreetly report it to a third-party hate crime service.

Please note that such reporting centres are not an emergency service, so we urge you to call either 999 or 112 if you experience or witness an anti-LGBTQ+ emergency situation, and please call 101 if you come across an urgent incident.

SAYiT

Our Sheffield-based LGBTQ+ charity partner, SAYiT, run a confidential and national reporting service, which doesn't have a requirement to talk to the police if you don't want to.

You can email SAYiT at hatecrime@sayit.org.uk any time, or phone them on 0114 201 2633 between 10am and 4pm on Mondays until Fridays. The service is open to all ages and you aren't obligated to give your full name.

When contacting SAYiT, please include the following: when and where the abuse happened; a description of what happened; how the complainant identifies; and a description of the abuser. If you are reporting any social media abuse, then we recommend you to screenshot the abusive post, as well as block the abuser and not engage with them at all.

True Vision

True Vision also operate one of the UK's most effective services of its kind, as you can submit an online report here, which will then be immediately forwarded onto a relevant police force for further investigation. The Metropolitan Police's website advises that submission takes around ten minutes.

This means that you don't have to visit a police station to report a hate crime, while the National Police Chiefs' Council host officers, who assist in responding to online hate crimes, on True Vision's National Online Hate Crime Hub page.

Other services

Galop provides a telephone and email helpline, respectively via 0800 999 5428 and help@galop.org.uk, for any information or emotional support, if you ever experience or witness an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime, while their website comprehensively defines what an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime is.

We also recommend two Google Chrome extensions, Tune and Shinigami Eyes, which filter out anti-LGBTQ+ content, particularly on social media platforms.