Tolerance and Non-discrimination private homes, as well as attacks or restrictions on places of worship. Another barrier comes in the form of the requirement in some participating States of registration for the practise of a religion or a belief, which can be coupled with unnecessary burdensome procedures that are often abused. Censorship of religious literature and bans on the teaching of a religion or a belief are also being reported. In some participating States, those who object to military service on the grounds of religion or belief face restrictions and limitations to this right, and are punished with imprisonment. Intolerant and discriminatory discourse about religion or belief groups is all too frequent, as is discrimination against individuals on grounds of religion or belief in the workplace or while accessing public services. In some instances, intolerance is religiously motivated and religious arguments are used to advance political objectives. kk Challenging biases and prejudices through education: Since negative stereotypes, often passed from generation to generation, are frequently causes of hate-motivated crime, educational efforts to promote mutual respect and understanding, to foster an appreciation of cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity, and to reinforce remembrance of the Holocaust can help eliminate such attitudes. While a number of participating States have undertaken such efforts, longer-term and more coherent approaches are needed if there is to be a real impact. Activities ODIHR’s overall aim in the area of tolerance and non-discrimination is to support OSCE participating States and civil society in their efforts to effectively respond to hate-motivated crimes, promote freedom of religion, and facilitate mutual respect and understanding. In this regard, ODIHR’s work is focused on addressing specific forms of intolerance (including racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, discrimination 48 Annual Report 2008 against Muslims, Christians and members of other religions, and other forms of intolerance) through cross-cutting programmatic areas (such as education, law enforcement, legislation, civil society capacity building, monitoring, and information collection and dissemination). In 2008, activities were conducted in the following six areas: kk Collecting and disseminating information about hate crime; kk Improving responses to hate crimes; kk Developing educational tools; kk Supporting civil society; kk Promoting freedom of religion or belief; and kk Establishing increased co-operation between ODIHR and other key inter-governmental partners I. Collecting and disseminating information on hate crime ODIHR has been assisting the efforts of states by serving as a collection point for information and statistics on hate crime and by making this information publicly available. In 2008, ODIHR published its second annual report on hate crime, Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region: Incidents and Responses. The report was presented and discussed in draft form at the annual meeting of the National Points of Contact (NPC) on Combating Hate Crime on 15 and 16 June in Helsinki. The official launch of the report took place during the HDIM. The report, which is based on information received from governments, international organizations and civil society, provides an overview of patterns and trends pertaining to hate-motivated incidents. It also presents examples of effective responses by OSCE states, as well as challenges that governments and civil society continue to face in their efforts to prevent and respond to hate-motivated incidents. In order to ensure greater consistency in the information collected from participating States, ODIHR initiated the development of a standardized questionnaire to be used by NPCs when submitting data and information on hate crime.