The experience of a foreign student in Riga

Rajan came to Riga three months ago and is studying at a university. He practices Sikhism and wears a turban – a headwear often worn by Sikh men. While traveling home from the university by tram, Rajan noticed that three young men were watching and talking about him. When the tram stopped and the young people went to get off – one of them rudely and loudly said something to Rajan in Latvian, the second pushed him with his elbow, and the third, while jumping out of the tram, pulled the turban off Rajan’s head.

What to do in a similar situation?

Practical advice: in such a situation, it is important to get to safety quickly and avoid any provocation. If you are in a group of several people, it is useful to make a photo, video or audio recordings of how the attack, provocation takes place, as well as to identify any witnesses that could confirm the facts of a possible attack.

Hate crimes should be reported to the State Police as soon as possible by calling 110 or contacting the nearest police station. The victim must describe what happened to the police officer in as much detail as possible, paying attention to the special indicators of hate crimes, such as the fact that the attacker has expressed racist, xenophobic, homophobic, etc. notes or slogans, the attacker had special clothing or inscriptions on it, tattoos with various symbols, etc.

Hate speech on the Internet can be reported to the administration of a particular website by using the reporting tools or by writing to mentioned contact email.