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On Your Side is a new, UK-wide support and reporting service for anyone in the UK who identifies as East and Southeast Asian who has experienced racism or any forms of hate.
You can reach out to us about
any form of hate such as...
Is this service for me?
On Your Side is for anyone in the UK who identifies as East and Southeast Asian, including people with mixed heritage. It is also for anyone who is perceived by others to be East and Southeast Asian and witnesses of hate towards East and Southeast Asians from any background.
Some of the places included in East Asia are China; Hong Kong; Macau; Mongolia; Japan; North Korea; South Korea and Taiwan.
Some of the places included in Southeast Asia are Brunei; Cambodia; Indonesia; Laos; Malaysia; Myanmar (Burma); the Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
These lists are by no means fixed or exhaustive.
We also include their diasporas, including British East and Southeast Asian people, many of whom have been born here, or had family in the UK for one or more generations.
Our Process
- Speak with one of our trained helpline operators by calling our 24/7 freephone helpline. You can also get in touch using our online reporting form.
- If you contact us through the online reporting form, we’ll ask for your contact details. This is so that our helpline operators can get in touch to provide the best support or find out more about what happened. You don’t have to give us your contact details if you’d prefer not to.
- If you speak to a helpline operator, they’ll talk with you about what happened and note any further details about you, the incident and the perpetrator.
- You’ll be asked whether or not you’d like us to pass on your report to the police. If you do want us to pass it on, we’ll ask whether or not you’d like us to include your contact details.
1) If you choose to include your contact details, the police will contact you to note any further details and begin investigating.
2) If you choose to remain anonymous, it’s unlikely that the police will investigate the case further. However, they will log the crime or incident on a national database.
- You’ll be asked whether or not you’d like further support from one of our trained casework advocates. If you would, we’ll review the information you gave us and decide which of our partner casework advocacy organisations would best support your needs. We’ll call you back within 7 days to tell you about your assigned caseworker and the organisation they work for and to ask for your permission to share your details with them. If for any reason you do not want your details shared with that caseworker or organisation, we will work with you to select a different support organisation.
- You can remain entirely anonymous, as long as you are able to share a contact phone number with us so we can arrange the support.
- If you’ve agreed for your details to be passed to the casework advocate, they’ll call you back within 7 days.
- The casework advocate will help you understand your rights and help to identify what support you need next, including:
- emotional and mental health support
- assist with reporting to police and follow-up
- support finding advice relate to workplace discrimination
- signposting to legal aid or assistance
- contacting local domestic violence organisations or accessing counselling
- They will support you for as long as you need.
We will use what you tell us to try to better prevent East and Southeast Asian communities from facing racism and other forms of hate in the future. We will publicly share anonymised information, such as the number of reports we receive and the types of incidents reported, to build awareness of hate faced by East and Southeast Asian Communities in the UK so we can better campaign to end it.
For more information on how we protect your data,
please see our privacy policy.
Our Values
Our Values
Our team and the consortium partners have all agreed to the following service values:
- The wellbeing and safety of individuals who report to us is our priority and will never be compromised, including the security and confidentiality of any personal data shared with us.
- We stand against all forms of racism and hate everywhere. Racism and other forms of identity-based hate must not be tolerated and should be actively prevented at all times.
- We work in solidarity with other minoritised communities, with whom we seek to build allyship and solidarity.
- We aim to build on the work already being done by East and Southeast Asian organisations across the UK, and to resource and supplement that work rather than duplicate it.
- We aim to work intersectionally and transparently through our service and understand and dismantle barriers that could prevent some community members from accessing it.
Our History
On Your Side is funded by the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) through the Hong Kong BN(O) Welcome Programme. The service is led by the independent charity Protection Approaches alongside a consortium of mainly East and Southeast Asian Community organisations (find out more about the consortium here). The service operates independently of the UK Government.
Our Team
On Your Side is being delivered by a consortium of 9 organisations.
There are 4 lead organisations within this which are responsible for delivering the core elements of the service and will have access to any data you consent to give us.
The lead organisations are supported by a consortium of 5 partner organisations across the UK, who have contributed to the design of the service and are helping to provide ongoing casework and support.
Casework Advocacy Support Partners
These 5 partner organisations host our Casework Advocates and will be delivering the Casework Advocacy support. If you would like ongoing support from one of our Casework Advocates you’re your data may be passed to one of these partners, but only with your full and informed consent. Nothing will ever be passed to one of these partners without your knowledge and consent.
Our Support Team
OUR HELPLINE OPERATORS
Our Helpline Operators are the first people you’ll speak to when you call our 24/7 freephone helpline. They’re here to listen to you, find out more about what happened and give you support. If they don’t speak your language, they’ll find a trusted interpreter for you. All Helpline Operators have received comprehensive training on how to listen to and support you, including trauma-informed practice training from the Association of Psychological Therapies. This helps ensure that we prevent further harm or re-traumatisation.
OUR CASEWORKERS
Our Casework Advocates are there to support you for as long as you need. They’re based in local East and Southeast Asian community groups and are trained in advocacy, mental health first aid, trauma-informed practice, safeguarding, cultural competency and hate crime awareness. They can help you find the appropriate support services you need, such as legal aid or mental health aid, and will be on your side if your case is being handled by the police or local authority.