Bridgend County Borough Council

• Hateful graffiti and other imagery plague communities across the UK, spreading a toxic message of division.
• Such graffiti targets people based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity.
• This is why we’ve developed an app called StreetSnap to record instances of hateful graffiti and other visuals.
• The Weiner Holocaust Library and several other locations around London have been targeted by a spate of far-right racist graffiti.

Under-reporting

• Issues such as war, immigration, people seeking asylum and the rising costs of living are changing and challenging communities.
• As a result, it is now more important than ever that hateful graffiti and symbols are better understood.
• But one Australian study showed that hateful graffiti can heighten people’s perceptions of insecurity and fear of crime.
• Hateful graffiti, whether fuelled by malicious intent or simply ignorance, may have the same destructive effect on individuals, groups and communities.

StreetSnap

• Our intention is that this will allow for easier communication between various authorities, as well as identification and removal by councils.
• More importantly, though, the data gathered can be used to identify and understand patterns and help monitor community tensions.

Melanie Morgan is affiliated with Swansea University and is employed through SMART Partnership Grant Funding from Welsh Government. Lella Nouri receives funding from Welsh Government, Bridgend & Swansea Council. She is affiliated with Swansea University and is the Founder of StreetSnap. She also consults Welsh Government on the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan.