The Estonishing Evenings event series, supported by Estonian World, continues in Tallinn on 25 November, this time taking a closer look at a more serious topic in the Estonian society – racism and hate crimes.
Estonia’s current penal code is futile against hate speech for its wording requires words to be accompanied by direct danger to one’s well-being. This makes Estonia one of the very few countries in the European Union, where hate speech laws are basically powerless, which can lead to more hate discourse and hate crimes. This issue has already been raised to numerous occasions in the last eight years to no avail, mainly due to an ignorant attitude by successive justice ministers.
There has also been an increasing number of incidents meanwhile, which have also been fuelled by the rise of far-right politicians in Estonia. Estonishing Evenings, in collaboration with the Estonian Human Rights Centre, wants to tackle the topic openly and come up with suggestions on how make Estonia a more tolerant country at this event.
The evening will start with an overview of the current situation, statistics and trends in Estonia. It will be followed by personal stories of three persons living in Estonia, who happen to have a different skin colour or background, both native Estonian and non-native. Then, the visitors will have a chance to come up with ideas and suggestions on how to achieve a more tolerant Estonia.
Organised in partnership with Estonian World and the Telliskivi Creative City, the Estonishing Evenings series runs English-speaking events that host different speakers expressing their viewpoints and experiences on hot topics and matters concerning both the locals and non-natives living in Estonia.
The event, taking place at the cosy Erinevate Tubade Klubi (the Club of Different Rooms) at the Telliskivi Creative City in Tallinn, at 7:00PM on 25 November, will be moderated by Silver Tambur, the editor-in-chief of Estonian World.
The cover image is illustrative. Photo by Annika Haas.
