What is hate crime?

Hate incidents and hate crime are acts of violence or hostility directed at people because of who they are or who someone thinks they are. These acts can involve verbal & online abuse, physical attacks, criminal damage, and many more offences.

What you can do

Support – If you see or know somebody affected by hate crime it’s important to support them. Let them know they aren’t alone and that they have a friend. This could be as simple as checking they are ok, to advising them on how they can report the incident. Nobody should feel alone when they have received abuse for being themselves.

Challenge – The most common types of hate crime that you will potentially witness will be verbal and online. In these situations you can challenge an offender by telling them you don’t agree or that they shouldn’t speak to anybody like that. But only ever do this if it is safe to do so and if you’re comfortable doing it. Never put yourself in harm’s way or become embroiled in a dangerous situation.

Online hate crime may be easier to challenge, but don’t get into an argument. You can challenge the view you see or post a positive message of your own, but don’t get embroiled in an online argument. The idea of #Westandtogether is to show solidarity within our communities. Challenging hateful views is one part of this.

Report – Whenever you witness any sort of hate crime be sure to report it. If a person is in danger or the hate crime is happening at that moment call 999.

If it is not an emergency, phone the police on 101. If there happens to be a police officer around when you witness a hate crime, speak to them.

If you see or are the victim of a hate crime you can report it online.

By reporting a hate crime we can understand more about who, what, when, where and why hate crime is happening.