Hate incidents and hate crimes affect individuals and communities. The individual victim may suffer physical injuries or enduring emotional trauma, and news of hate crimes spreads quickly through communities, increasing fear and lessening people’s willingness to express their identity and go about their normal lives.
If you have been affected by a hate incident or hate crime you are not alone.
What is a hate incident or hate crime?
Hate incidents and hate crimes are terms used to describe acts of hostility or violence directed at people because of who they are or who someone thinks they are. They are motivated by hostility or prejudice based on disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. When hate incidents break the law, they become criminal offences and are known as hate crimes.
Hate incidents or crimes can be against a person or property and include materials posted online. They can take many forms as follows:
Disability hate incidents
A disability hate incident is any incident, which may or may not amount to a criminal offence, that the victim or anyone else thinks was motivated because of hostility or prejudice based on disability.
The Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on an individual’s ability to do normal daily activities. This includes people with learning disabilities.
A person can be the victim of a disability hate incident or crime if someone believes they are disabled even though they are not, or because of their association with someone who is disabled, for example, if someone is targeted because they have a disabled child.
Citizens Advice provides further information on disability hate incidents and hate crime.
Homophobic or transphobic hate incidents
A homophobic or transphobic hate incident is any incident, which may or may not amount to a criminal offence, that the victim or anyone else thinks was carried out because of hostility or prejudice based on sexual orientation or transgender identity. Sexual orientation and transgender identity refer to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQI+).
Incidents motivated by or perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice because of a person’s sexual orientation, or their perceived sexual orientation, are known as homophobic hate incidents.
Incidents motivated by or perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice because of a person’s transgender identity, or their perceived transgender identity, are known as transphobic hate incidents.
Anyone can be the victim of a homophobic or transphobic hate incident. A person can be the victim of a homophobic or transphobic hate incident if someone believes they are a LGBTQI+ person, even though they’re not. A person can also be the victim of a hate incident because of their association with members of the LGBTQI+ community.
Citizens Advice provides further information on homophobic and transphobic hate incidents/hate crime.
Racist or religious hate incidents
A racist or religious hate incident is any incident, which may or may not amount to a criminal offence, that the victim or anyone else thinks was carried out because of hostility or prejudice based on race or religion.
A racial group means a group of people defined by reference to their race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origin. This also includes Gypsies and Travelers, refugees and asylum seekers, Jews, and Sikhs.
A religious group means people who share the same religious belief, such as Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. It also includes people with no religious belief.
Anyone can be the victim of a racist or religious hate incident. For example, someone may wrongly target a person because they believe they belong to a particular racial group, or someone may be targeted because of their partner’s religion.
Citizens Advice provides further information on racist and religious hate incidents and hate crime. Some examples of hate incidents include:
- Verbal abuse like name-calling and offensive jokes
- Harassment
- Bullying or intimidation by children, adults, neighbours or strangers
- Physical attacks such as hitting, punching, pushing, spitting
- Threats of violence
- Hoax calls, abusive phone or text messages, hate mail
- Online abuse for example on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter)
- Displaying or circulating discriminatory literature or posters
- Harm or damage to things such as homes, pets, vehicles
- Graffiti
- Arson
- Throwing rubbish into a garden
- Malicious complaints, for example, over parking, smells or noise
Evidence of the hate element is not a requirement to report it. You do not need to personally perceive the incident to be hate related. It would be enough if another person, a witness or even a police officer thought that the incident was hate related.
When do hate incidents become hate crimes?
When hate incidents break the law, they become criminal offences and are known as hate crimes. Any criminal offence can be a hate crime if it was carried out because of hostility or prejudice based on disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. Hate crime can fall into one of three main types as follows:
Physical assault
Physical assault of any kind is an offence. Depending on the level of the violence used, a perpetrator may be charged with common assault, actual bodily harm, or grievous bodily harm.
Verbal abuse
Verbal abuse, threats or name-calling can be a common and extremely unpleasant experience for minority groups. Victims of verbal abuse are often unclear whether an offence has been committed or believe there is little they can do. However, there are laws in place to protect you from verbal abuse.
Incitement to hatred
The offence of incitement to hatred occurs when someone acts in a way that is threatening and intended to stir up hatred. That could be in words, pictures, videos, music, and includes information posted on websites. Hate content may include:
- Messages calling for violence against a specific person or group
- Web pages that show pictures, videos, or descriptions of violence against anyone due to their perceived differences
- Chat forums where people ask other people to commit hate crimes against a specific person or group