The first case is one from the Rhondda that came to may attention last year. A 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted. The perpetrator pleaded guilty and last September received a sentence of 24 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. A sexual harm prevention order was made for 10 years and he was also registered as a sex offender for 10 years. The suspended sentence has resulted in this convicted paedophile being allowed to return to his home, which is less than 300 feet away from the family home of this teenage survivor. His continued presence is making the whole family, but in particular this vulnerable teenage girl, feel intimidated, unsafe and unable to move on. The whole family are undertaking counselling and are receiving mental health support to come to terms with what has happened, but the ongoing daily traumatic reminders mean recovery is nigh on impossible. This is not justice; this is an outrage.

Incidences of sexual assault and rape are based on wielding power, and that is a characteristic common to most hate crimes. I've been told by the Welsh Government that the management and assessment of risk post-sentence falls to the probation service, and so is part of the non-devolved justice system. However, I simply cannot accept that nothing can been done in a case like this. How does it, for example, fit with the wording in the Government's motion about increasing victims' confidence or ensuring that victims receive dedicated advice and care? It's because of cases like this that I want to see the criminal justice system devolved. Would we not put victim protection, child safeguarding and public safety at the heart of a Welsh-run criminal justice system? As things stand, the system is cruel and is causing more harm. The Thomas commission says it all:

'With legislative devolution of justice, the Welsh Government and the Assembly should make significant reforms which would make a material contribution to Wales being a just, equal, diverse and prosperous nation.'

The second case I wish to raise is that of Christopher Kapessa, a 13-year-old black boy whose body was found in the river Cynon, near Fernhill, last year. We don't know if this was a hate crime, but Christopher was pushed into the river and he drowned. The police only interviewed four of the 14 people who were at the scene. Christopher's mother has accused South Wales Police and the Crown Prosecution Service of institutional racism over a failure to prosecute anyone in relation to her son's death, despite there being,

'sufficient evidence to support a charge of unlawful act of manslaughter'.

Again, I cannot accept that the Welsh Government can do nothing in this case. Now, I'm aware that a meeting will be held soon about this and I urge the Government to get involved. Please, don't be a bystander. All the people need to be safe living here, and in the light of this case many people of colour in our communities simply do not.

As many of us are acutely aware, the far right are emboldened in the present time. Although all minorities are at risk, there are certain groups of people who are particularly vulnerable from their attacks. Muslim women, and particularly women of a Muslim faith who choose to cover or wear a veil, and trans people, especially trans women, seem to me to be on the front line of the so-called culture wars. Trump's America should be a warning to us. Intolerances there will travel here. In November, the FBI reported that violent hate crimes in the US reached their highest levels in 16 years, with a surge of attacks seen against Muslims, Latinos, Sikhs, people with disabilities and transgender people. Brian Levin, the director for the Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism said,

'The more we have these derisive stereotypes broadcasted into the ether, the more people are going to inhale that toxin.'

The domino effect of this widespread hatred is clear, and rights thought to be well-enshrined are endangered; rights such as abortion rights, citizenship rights. It's critical that we recognise that hate crime against some of us is a hate crime against all of us; it cannot be tolerated at any cost. This famous poem by Martin Niemöller reminds me why we must all stand together against all hate crime in all its forms:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— / Because I was not a socialist. / Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— / Because I was not a trade unionist. / Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— / Because I was not a Jew. / Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

We have to learn from this.