What are hate crimes and hate incidents?
Hate incidents
A hate incident is any incident which the victim, or anyone else, thinks is based on someone’s prejudice towards them because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender.
Not all hate incidents will amount to criminal offences, but those that do become hate crimes.
Hate crimes
A hate crime is defined specifically as:
“Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s:
- (perceived or actual) disability (including mental health or learning difficulty)
- (perceived or actual) race, colour or nationality
- (perceived or actual) religion or belief
- (perceived or actual) sexual orientation
- (perceived or actual) gender identity”.
Hate incidents and hate crime are acts of hostility directed at people because of who they are or who someone thinks they are.
No incident is too small
If you have experienced or witnessed a hate incident it is natural to be angry or worried about taking things further. It’s important to report incidents, so you can get help with the personal and practical problems caused by hate incidents.
Report everything! No incident is too small. When major incidents happen, they often follow minor ones that were not reported.
You can come into any of our local offices or outreach locations to report a hate incident or crime. We can also provide support and advice when the police, landlord or other body hasn’t responded in the way you expected them to.
October 13th – 20th is Hate Crime Awareness Week.