What is Hate Crime?

Hate crime is the term used to describe an incident or crime against someone based on a part of their identity.
There are five categories of ‘identity’ when a person is targeted because of a hostility or prejudice towards their:

·  disability

·  race or ethnicity

·  religion or belief (which includes non-belief)

·  sexual orientation

·  gender identity.

We also recognise crimes targeted at alternative sub-cultures (such as Goth) as a form of hate crime.

(all of these can be based on a perceived characteristic, so the person does not necessarily need to have the characteristic).

Hate crime can be any criminal or non-criminal act such as graffiti, name calling, vandalism to a property, assault or online abuse using social media.  It’s important to seek support if you are affected by this.

Experiencing hate crime can be a particularly frightening experience as you’ve been targeted because of who you are, or who or what your attacker thinks you are. It is a very personal attack so it’s important the person affected by it seeks/encouraged to seek support.