Dominique Walker: It's our duty to take a stand against this threat

I'll be on the platform speaking at Trafalgar Square [today] because I believe it's our duty to recognise the threat of racism, the threat of the British National Party, and actually to do something about combating it. It's down to us - the people - to stamp out the BNP and their attitudes. It's down to us to understand what parties like that really stand for and to know exactly what we are voting for.

The fact that a far-right party is fielding so many people in next week's elections is not really of any surprise to me. It's nearly a year since my brother Anthony died but there are still so many examples of the same kind of racial hatred and it's going to take a lot for things to change.

We were a quiet family, just getting on with life before all of this happened, but making a stand against racism has given me a confidence that I didn't know I had. Through the support we have received for the Anthony Walker Foundation, we know that people want to make a stand. Perhaps we need more young people, under-25s, to do the speaking and engage others in why it's important to vote. We have to make people know that if they don't vote, they give parties like the BNP the chance to sneak in with their prejudice and their hatred.

Dominique Walker is a sister of Anthony Walker, who died at the hands of racists in July 2005.